Parents eagerly await the dismissal from school to find out how their children’s day went. They ask the question, “Did you learn anything new today?” and the response is a discouraging, “No.” Many times our children come home exhausted. They have grown accustomed to carefree days and are suddenly thrown into a structured day that
A short 9 months ago, most device users never gave a bit of attention to AI-Artificial Intelligence. They let their cars tell them how to get to different places. Alexa turned on their music of choice without them having to scan radio channels to find something of interest. I used it to check my grammar
Questions are the most valuable tool students possess to learn more and retain it longer. The negative result of helping them overcome their fear of asking questions is they often ask the same questions their classmates just asked. HARD FACTS: SOLUTION FOR TEACHERS: DO YOU WANT FULL ENGAGEMENT, TO COVER MORE MATERIAL FASTER, AND HELP
One academic area that suffers during summer is math. The facts are easily forgotten if they are not practiced a little during the summer. Rote memory doesn’t guarantee retention. There are a few things that have helped my students not only remember their facts, but retain them well into their 30’s. Memory joggers stimulate the
I received this question today: How can we blend the advantages of traditional teaching with self-learning to provide a more effective and relevant education for today’s youth who are often more tech-savvy than their predecessors? Let’s first explore the fact that The questions students will be asked to answer in the future will not have
I was asked,” How important is parent and teacher communication?” My answer will surprise you. “Not as important as student to teacher and child to parent communication. I believe we need to teach children the Art of Self-Advocacy“ When students learn how to be self-advocates, communication between parent and teacher is less important. Reasons for
Parents controlling their children’s device use is admirable, but in many cases it’s futile. By doing so, parents are creating a situation that makes children want to sneak it. Having encountered students who would wake at 1 am, unlock the drawer that contained the device, and be found playing it under the covers, I can
Checking in with students about their goals and how they feel they are doing is crucial to help them maintain their mental health. Hundreds of students are suffering silently, because of they have perceptions of how they should be performing. They are questioning if they can maintain their current level of performance. The stress of
After a few years of working with third graders I had an epiphany about the perceptions held by underachieving students who lacked confidence, or students who demonstrated negative behaviors. I was discovering an alarming number of students with poor self-images who were very capable students. As the demands on kindergarteners shifted from developmental learning to
My first failures in the classroom led me to discover Homework Solutions that promotes self-advocacy in students. Students fear mistakes. As young as 4 years old, I have seen children fall apart because they made a mistake. By time these same children enter third grade, they either know the value of a mistake or the
Victoria is an educational consultant, nationally recognized speaker. Her over 50 years in education has been focused on developing resilient self-reliant self-advocates who know how to tap into their innate ability to independently solve challenges.