How big is private equity? We show funds raised by the largest 25 private equity firms over the last five years and their notable investments.
Tried and true strategies to re-engage students and keep them engaged in their education for the rest of the school year.
This product includes a complete thirty-minute lesson for students grades 1-3. This lesson teaches the difference between equity and equality in student-friendly language. This is perfect for students struggling to understand why students may be treated differently or receive different services. Can...
ATLAS has been working on developing an exciting new professional development video series! Read more to learn about what is included in the series, where to find it, and even a couple of suggestions on how to use it.
A microblog today to give you some food for thought. What is your take?
This post contains affiliate links. One of the most popular posts on this blog is called Fair Isn’t Equal. In it I include a wonderful graphic that helps to illustrate the difference between the concepts of fairness and equality. Most people believe that “fairness means that everyone gets the same”; whereas in reality “fairness means that everyone gets what he or she needs.” Further, fairness is one of the most commonly used arguments against inclusion. “Teaching students of different abilities in the same class isn’t fair to those who can move at a quicker pace,” or “It’s not fair to hold back some students to prevent others from falling behind.” The best way to accommodate students of varying abilities in the same learning environment is through differentiated instruction; a methodology which enables students to progress at their own pace via activities that are developmentally appropriate. I also firmly believe in transparency. I think that the methodology and the premise behind it should be shared with students, enabling them to understand and support one another more fully. "The Band-Aid Activity" is not something that I created; but it is a successful way to help students understand the concept of fairness (versus equality) in a differentiated classroom. The Band-Aid Activity Distribute “injury cards” to students (index cards with various injuries listed one per card). Ask students, one at a time, to share their injury, giving each student a band-aid (regardless of the injury). If anyone complains or questions the band-aid, simply say that it would not be fair if everyone did not get the same thing. Questions for discussion: Was it equal that everyone got a Band-Aid? Was it fair that everyone got a Band-Aid? Why or why not? (Everyone getting the same thing wasn’t fair because it didn’t help most of the students. Sometimes students will do different things in class, but everyone is learning and getting what they need. It is important not to make anyone feel bad about doing something different.) Depending upon the age of the students: What other things in the classroom are our “injuries” like? What else can the Band-Aids be compared to? (The Band-Aids are like getting the help you need in class. When a teacher is working with a small group or individual student, interrupting or distracting them is like taking away the student’s Band-Aid.) **Variation: Give all but the last student a band-aid. Add in a discussion of how it felt to be the only one without a band aid. There can be other variations of the activity depending upon the age of the students, but this can certainly be used in a discussion format with middle school students and teens. And here is a terrific link to a blog explaining this lesson in action with young children. Do you have any great activities for teaching fairness? Sign up here to be sure you never miss a post from Removing the Stumbling Block:
Each month brings a new challenge with the Children’s Museum of the Arts (CMA) CIVIC KIDS campaign! Their theme for November is “Equity”…. perfect for election month, don’t you think?! equity noun 1 the equity of society: fairness, justness, impartiality, egalitarianism; objectivity, balance, open-mindedness.” The challenge is open to kids everywhere… you don’t need to live...
How equity and social justice play a role in math instruction.
Tried and true strategies to re-engage students and keep them engaged in their education for the rest of the school year.
All kinds of readers, all kinds of writers.
ROE vs ROA vs ROIC vs ROCE What's the difference? RETURN ON EQUITY (ROE) DEFINITION: Measures the return a company is earning in relation to its shareholder…
Why calling on students should be the LAST strategy you use to find out what they know...and how to get ALL kids involved instead.
It is really hard to find resources to teach media literacy to K-2 students! If you have a subscription to Brainpop, they do have an excel...
Are you wondering why you might not want to use the 100 point grading scale, and what you might want to do instead? There are many reasons why it's not the
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Auditory Processing Disorder Autism Emotional Disturbance Epilepsy Post-traumatic Stress Disor...
If you want to begin teaching diversity to young kids, then you will definitely want to check out these crafts and activities that are fun and hands-on!
American Sign Language (ASL) is a great second or foreign language option for your children, and it's easy to implement into your daily lives and routines.
When planning anti-bias anti-racist education, science and math are often ignored. Use these 7 ideas to teach for diversity in STEM subjects.
Disney movies have some very deep lessons to teach kids. Zootopia lesson plans are perfect for teaching kids about bias vs. sterotypes.
Culturally responsive teaching is less about using racial pride as a motivator and more about mimicking the strategies students' communities use to teach them long before they come to school.
Blog post that provides activities on lesson and bias for your speech therapy sessions and for Martin Lurther King Jr. day!
Hi friends! I wanted to stop by today and share all about Character Education. I believe that our students NEED us to model kindness and respect, and they also need […]
Tweet We are 7 weeks into the school year and gearing up for parent teacher conferences later this week. In our school, we try to schedule all conferences on a Thursday evening or Friday morning. This way if multiple folks need to be involved in the conference, we are all in the building at the same time. The evening hours also work much better for parents. As the math specialist I get invited to attend the difficult conferences. If a student is behind or in some cases very ahead of their peers, I will often be asked to join the conference. Classroom teachers also invite me when they know parents have specific concerns or when it is a student I have a lot of contact with. Sometimes I am asked to sit in on a conference because the parents are very difficult or have expressed opinions about their students math learning that do not show understanding of how or why we are teaching math as we do. Depending on the reason for the conference and what the concerns are, I have many approaches but here are a few things I always do in conference situations. - I like to start on a positive note by sharing a recent piece of student work that illustrates something they can do well or something that shows how far they have come. Because I do so much formative assessment, I have a lot of student work samples available to choose from and can always find something positive. - I then like to have parents share how they think their child is doing and any concerns they have. - I am all about data driven decision making so then I will share any assessments. For primary students this often includes individual interviews, especially if a student is behind. I go over the current assessment results and show their progress over time if applicable. - I show other student work and point out specifically how the work illustrates them progressing or not progressing toward meeting the standard. I also like to explain what the next steps are in terms of what we are working on next. - I prepare myself to answer the hard questions. Why are you teaching it this way instead of that way? These big questions parents have when they are new to my school or my way of thinking about math used to really challenge me. As I have become more experienced and read more research on math education I have been better prepared to answer these questions. I like to show parents that it isn't MY way of teaching that I am going for but rather what the research says works. - I focus on the big mathematical ideas for that grade. For each grade level I can think of 3-5 things that are the most important things kids have and understand in order for them to be successful in the next grade. If a student is behind, I focus the conference on the most important skills and make sure my discussion focuses on how to move a student forward with these big ideas. This year, in addition to my role as a math specialist (part interventionist and part coach), I have 2 groups of students that I am doing the primary math instruction for. This means that I will hopefully get to meet with the parents of kids in these groups because their classroom teachers don't see them for math. To help out with ones I might miss and to keep the classroom teachers up to speed on what their students are doing in math, I have been gathering data and putting together some things that can be shared with parents. One of the things I created for my fourth grade group was this quick reflection on their learning. I loved seeing their responses and it gave me great information about how they are feeling about math! Want to use this with your students? Click on the picture to get it from Google Drive.
Teaching empathy is important. In the simplest of terms, empathy is the ability to notice, understand, and share the emotions of others. It is a critical social skill for all people to have. In many ways, empathy is the social skill that paves the way for all other social skills. It helps us to take
I’m teaming up with my friends at The Elementary Entourage blog for a fun filled Back to School Bash! We are bringing you tips, ideas, lessons, and most importantly, FREEBIES for this back to school season! One thing that I think is so important at the beginning of the school year is to build a […]
In some cases, teachers think they're practicing culturally responsive teaching, when in fact, they're kind of not. Zaretta Hammond helps clear things up.
There are so many ways to approach self-portraits with children: observation, inspired by a particular artist, symbols of interests and activities, the list goes on. This time, I wanted to create an engaging, multi media
Have you ever considered how culturally responsive teaching can transform your classroom into a vibrant community of engaged learners? As educators, it's crucial to recognize that each student's cultural background significantly influences their learning experience. This post delves into essential resources on culturally responsive teaching, a powerful approach that fosters an inclusive and dynamic learning
