Nothing cements long-term learning as powerfully as retrieval practice. Learn how to incorporate it into your classroom.

A four-step approach to using a powerful model that increases student agency in learning.

Nothing cements long-term learning as powerfully as retrieval practice. Learn how to incorporate it into your classroom.

Using strategies to make thinking visible can be incredibly powerful. Their power, however, hinges almost entirely on how willing teachers are to learn about their students. Far too often, I see vi…

I think the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is wrong. I agree that the taxonomy accurately classifies various types of cognitive thinking skills. It certainly identifies the different levels of complexity. But its organizing framework is dead wrong. Here's what I propose. In the 21st century, we flip Bloom's taxonomy. Rather than starting with knowledge, we start with creating, and eventually discern the knowledge that we need from it.

Studying CAN be taught. Learn how retrieval practice, interleaving, elaboration, and other research-based study strategies can help your students learn better.

We can look at the SmarterBalance/Badger Exam as a stressor in our lives OR we can look at it as an opportunity to strengthen our universal instruction. We can look at some of our students and say "they can't" OR we can look at those students and say "they will" and find a new way to reach them. We can look at our colleagues and find their faults OR we can discover ways to share our strengths and make everyone around us stronger in the process. We can worry about how far we still have to go OR we can look at the exceptional things that go on at Van Brunt each day, and build on those positives. On a daily basis, I am impressed with what goes on at Van Brunt. Your hard work digging into curriculum, relationship building, and supporting each other are some of the things that make Van Brunt a great place to be. High Fives: *Our youngest learners were deeply engaged in a Lucy Calking writing lesson. They were so eager to share their thinking on paper. *I loved to see how excited students were when their classmates experienced success during a spelling lesson. It's great to see such positive responses from our students. *Teachers were using data to reassign students in RAZ-Kids. The students were challenged to work hard and meet new goals. *A science review game had the students so engaged that they may not have realized how much they were learning! Students were encouraged to pay attention as questions were asked in a variety of ways. *Teachers were coming together as a team to problem solve and think of creative ways to meet the needs of every learner. *Guided reading lessons are becoming stronger and even more focused. Students know the expectations and rise to the high standards you have set. Important Information/Updates: *RtI Committee Updates: Our current assessment tools were discussed and conversation was had around which one (MAP, AIMS, F&P) we want to put the most weight for determining interventions. It was decided that MAP is what people currently like the best. There was also discussion around the percentile cut-offs for intervention. The high school currently uses 1st-10th percentile for Tier 3 and 11th-20th for Tier 2. There will be further discussion on this topic. We have also received PRESS, a resource for Tier 2/3 intervention in reading. *Information: As you are sending home information to parents, please provide a copy for the office. This would include things such as newsletters, permission slips, field trip reminders, etc. If it is going home...we would like a copy in the office. This will make life much easier as we receive parent phone calls. *Attendance: We have been using the automated calling system for absences. It is so important that accurate attendance is taken each day. If a child comes in late, please make sure to change your attendance. I completely understand that mornings are busy, but we don't want to worry parents when unnecessary safe arrival calls are being made. As I was in classrooms this past week, I saw that book groups were being introduced. Here is an interesting article: Assessing Learning During Student-Led Book Clubs Week at a Glance: Monday, January 26 PBIS Committee Meeting 7:30 Tuesday, January 27 I am out of district at the Badger Exam Training (Morning) Wednesday, January 28 I am at an Admin Meeting 8:30 I am at Rotary 11:45 POPS Assembly 2:30 PLC 3:30 (Focus will be on the Badger Exam for 3rd-6th grade teachers and special ed. 4K-2nd, please use this time for your guided reading lesson planning or Lucy Calkins work. If these groups don't include you, and you have your data gathered for your SLO, you may use this time to work on TPES.) Please let me know if you have any questions. Thursday, January 29 ELA Committee Meeting 7:30 Friday, January 30 Have a great week!!

Feeling Vocabulary Happy, Sad, Angry, Tired, Confused, Depressed ENERGIZED SAD DeterminedInspired Creative Healthy Renewed Vibrant Strengthened Motivated Focused Invigorated Refreshed DepressedDesperate Dejected Heavy Crushed Disgusted Upset Hateful Sorrowful Mournful Weepy Frustrated ANGER STRONG AnnoyedAgitated Fed up Irritated Resentful Disgusted Outraged Raging Furious Livid Bitter SureCertain Unique Dynamic Tenacious Hardy Secure Empowered Ambitious Powerful Confident PANIC HAPPY Mixed upUnsure Stuck Hurt Lost Frozen Desperate Anxious Insecure troubled Uncomfortable Stunned AmusedDelighted Glad Pleased Charmed Grateful Optimistic Content Joyful Enthusiastic Loving Marvelous

Verb worksheets for grades 1-5; exercises include identifying verbs, using verbs to complete sentences, linking verbs, conjugating verbs, verb tenses and irregular verbs. Free | Grammar | Worksheets | Printable

Confidence -- it’s a powerful word and an even more powerful feeling. Can you remember a time in your life when you felt confident? A time when you felt

What's the secret to a great lesson? There are actually two of them: rigor and fun! Read this post to learn 10 ways to power up any lesson so that it's both challenging AND fun! the secret to a great lesson? There are actually two of them: rigor and fun! Read this post to learn 10 ways to power up any lesson so that it's both challenging AND fun!

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Napping doesn't mean you're lazy – it's good for your health and productivity. Check out these benefits of power naps and then get your midday zzzs.

Wish you could learn faster? Whether you’re learning Spanish, a new instrument, or a new sport, we could all benefit from accelerated learning. But the

Making Conversation a Cornerstone in the Art Classroom % %

The English language is rich with words that convey strength and influence, and knowing a variety of synonyms for "powerful" can greatly enhance our

Learning a new language is tougher and less romantic than we’d like. But it doesn’t have to be.

Digicrusader Digital Coach: Hire an experienced online business coach for tailored guidance and strategies to reach your goals. Elevate your success with top-rated coaching.

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Thinking about flipping your classroom? Flipped-learning pioneers Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams walk you through the steps you need to take to make blended learning a reality.

Beneath its simplicity lies an absolute dynamo, a vehicle that can cement learning more firmly than a lot of the other stuff we try, in a lot less time.

The Memory Retention and the Forgetting Curve Infographic examines how the human brain absorbs and categorizes information differently.

The amazing ways being bilingual affects the brain. Learn about it in this infographic.

Outlawing the words "I'm done" changed my classroom! Find out how to reform fast finishers and improve the quality of work in your room!

When it comes to raising good people teaching the Keys to friendship is vital. We lead by example for these valuable traits all friends need to thrive.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our Esperanto week! If we’ve convinced you to give the language a try, you might find this handy beginner’s guide a good place to start… Please feel free to share it with anyone you think might be interested. And for more information about... #beginner #colours #conversation

Whether they're completed on a piece of paper, a tablet, or a whiteboard, exit tickets are a powerful tool to use in your classroom. Exit tickets are formative assessments that provide a quick snapshot about your students' learning and understanding of a topic faster than any other tool in the classroom.

Looking Sideways People who look to the sides a lot are nervous, lying, or distracted. However, if a person looks away from the speaker, it could display a level of comfort or indicate submissiveness. Looking askance generally means the person is distrustful or unconvinced. Looking Downwards If someone looks down at the floor a lot, […]

Concerned about the state of the world, Canadian author and illustrator Elise Gravel created a wonderfully timely illustrated poster that explains the oddly elusive concept of empathy to kids in very simple terms. She also posits why empathy should be considered a superpower. The poster is free to print out for educational use. Parents, teachers, educators, librarians, and basically everyone who works with children: You can download and print this for educational uses. Gravel has also created

This post is about a chart I created with my friends over a three day period. It was really review for us, so the lessons were sort of quick hits. We did a section of the chart, they practiced in their writer's notebook with a quick share. My goal was just to review some areas in writing and grammar that I've seen they need a little reminding about. This is what the chart looked like at the end of day three: As you can see, it's a busy chart. That's why I really suggest doing it as a quick lesson over a few days. I will explain how I did it and give you some changes you might make so that it's a better fit for your friends. Day 1 Learning Goal: Using more descriptive verbs that relate mood This was the chart at the start of the lesson. We started with a simple sentence: The boy went up the stairs. I then focused my friends on the first column, the different moods I might want to create as a writer. We discussed how our simple sentence just doesn't do it. As a class, we brainstormed some different verb choices that better suited the moods. I charted these, and then we read the sentence again, substituting the new verb choices each time. To practice, my friends then worked with a partner for a minute or two to brainstorm their own verb choice for the same sentence and write it in their writer's notebook. We did a quick share of some and then off they went for independent writing. Modifications: This could be the extent of your entire chart. You don't have to go on and do the other sections. For younger friends, working on verb choice alone may be enough. You could also focus this lesson on synonyms for verb choice. How many verbs can you think of that would show someone going up the stairs in a happy mood? Bounced up? Jumped up? Pranced up? Skipped up? Danced up? Day 2 Learning Goal: Using adjectives or more descriptive phrases to relate mood and stronger visual images For Day 2, we briefly reviewed the previous day's lesson and then discussed how we could add adjectives or descriptive phrases to help relate mood and create a more powerful mental picture for the reader. We brainstormed together to fill in the last column. Notice that for our happy and carefree mood, we didn't really change anything. It was important for them to see that sometimes you just may not be able to think of a way to change the sentence. I come back to this at the end of day three, so I'll explain then. For independent practice, my friends followed the same procedure at Day 1 using the same sentence in their writer's notebook. Modifications: To simplify it, you could focus on just adding one adjective in front of the word stairs in the original sentence. Note: I'm a little embarrassed! It wasn't until I was looking at the chart after school on day 3 that I realized I wrote "creeped" when "crept" is grammatically correct. I did go back and correct it with my friends, but it's not in these pictures. Oh well, it's probably good for them to see that even teachers (this teacher anyway) need to proofread! Moving on. . . Day 3 Learning Goal: Correctly using and punctuating dependent clauses and creating vivid, descriptive mental images Dependent Clauses have been a stickler for some of my friends, especially using commas correctly with them. For this section, we worked on adding dependent clauses that related mood. As you can see, we also threw in some adjectives for the boy. I also highlighted the use of the comma. For independent practice, my friends went on to add a dependent clause to the sentence they had been working on in their writer's notebook. We did a quick share, and then I had them write their "Power Sentence" on a sentence strip. We hung them up in the room, and of course I forgot to take a picture of them! But, I think you get the idea. Modifications: Dependent clause is definitely an upper elementary focus, so you might want to simplify this section. In all, this would be a great chart for a simple adjective lesson. Your friends could focus on simply adding adjectives for the boy. You could also remove the "mood" section altogether if you wanted to just focus on adjectives, but I do think the mood really guides this lesson no matter how you modify it. So, as you can see from the chart, we went from the simple sentence, "The boy went up the stairs" to: With a gleam in his eye, the boy race up to the top of the staircase. Head bowed, the boy sighed and dragged himself up the long staircase. With a nervous glance up, the timid boy crept up the dark and shadowed stairs. While humming a silly tune, the boy bounced up the stairs. With a scowl on his face, the boy stomped up each step of the staircase. As I noted, these were quick lessons each day. They were meant to be a quick, meaningful review, not take up our whole writing period. The new sentences are complex sentences that create mood and vivid mental pictures. This is a skill my friends can always use practice with. On day 2, we never changed "the stairs" section of the sentence. One of the reasons I let this go was to point out to my friends that every part of a sentence doesn't need to be bedazzled. We sometimes use that term in class. I will tell my friends that their writing needs some bedazzling! It's a silly way for them to see that they have fallen back into the habit of using only "simple" writing. It's also important to point out that every sentence shouldn't be so involved. We have done lessons on varying sentences for structure and length, so my friends know not to "over bedazzle" their writing. Does that make sense to anyone but me?!! So, that's my chart that I call the chart that just keeps on giving. :-D I like charts that you can go back to over time. I find that my friends tend to get those lessons better when we are able to go back to the same chart a couple of days in a row. It just seems to imprint on their brains a bit more than the anchor charts you hit for one day only and then hang up. Hopefully there is something in this chart you can use. Have a happy weekend! See you tomorrow!

Social media marketing with content created on the convergence of neuroscience, human psychology and group dynamics.

Printable powers and roots worksheets for teachers and kids. Each worksheet is visual, differentiated and fun. Includes a range of useful free teaching resources.

Bloom's Taxonomy verbs include Evaluate: Criticize, Judge, Defend, Appraise, Value, Prioritize, Revise, Argue, Support, and Re-design.

What are power verbs? The list below is provided to help you find some great, active verbs to help the descriptive lines on your resume stand out.

The real reasons people don’t help, and what you can do about it.

The power of "I don't know" returns the learning to the student and restores the scale of understanding to a universe of knowledge.

'Because.' 'Thanks.' 'We': These are the words that will open your listener to you and give you power.

Power words and action verbs give your resume or story life. Find the right words in this list of relevant synonyms for your book, title, or blog.