Optimising Our Potential in Education

Optimising Our Potential - Education - Browse - Big Ideas - ABC TV
This panel discussion highlights many instrumental factors in inducing well-being in kids at school and at home each day. Watch and listen as Judy Willis, MD and teacher, Arthur Costa, Professor Emeritus in the CSU system, Philip Heath and Dr. Toni Noble discuss with Richard Aedy, of ABC radio Australia how we can maximize brain functioning through utilizing cooperative learning, novelty, and humor in the classroom.
Let me know in the comments section what you think!

Connecting Across the Globe with Song

I wish I could start by sharing the video of  beaming faces and beautiful voices of the students who sang to us and were our audience via Skype on Thursday.  The energy and pride of these 5th graders, who took the stage, singing to us in English, and ending with a beautiful song in Spanish, was quite powerful. Unfortunately, because of privacy rules, words will have to describe the exciting 20 minute call between my 4th grade class and Greta's 5th grade students in Argentina on their last day of school before summer vacation. I am positive that the students depict the scene way better than I could, so here is a post from  Alex, who went home and blogged even though school was over.
It was priceless to be the first class that these students had ever Skyped with in the U.S. I hope that my students found the experience to be equally memorable. 
Thank you Greta and your fantastic students for sharing such a special time with us!

Surrounding Ourselves With Others Who Bring Out Our Best

As I scan the list of "Best Teacher Blog" nominees on Edublogs, I am honored and humbled to be among teachers I admire, learn so much from, and share with on Twitter.  For once in my life, the competitive spirit in me does not seem to be caught up in whether or not I win. In fact, I feel like my blog has been somewhat neglected since school started, due to my other responsibilities, including blogging for my class. I am simply proud to stand among all of these wonderful educators who share stories of challenges, strategies, and successes so selflessly and openly.
My thoughts today center on the importance of  surrounding ourselves with inspiring people. My meaningful connections with my real life educator friends, as well as those through Twitter and reading blogs all facilitate my growth and performance as a teacher. By performance, I don't mean an outcome like student test scores on standardized tests. I am speaking of the daily, "stepping onto the stage" in the classroom, in the countless interactions with students, parents, and colleagues. As a teacher, my words, actions and plans are held under the highest scrutiny at times, because of the power I have to influence my students. I consider this power a huge responsibility, made easier by the wonderful teachers I am honored to include in my Personal Learning Network.
I also must add that my loved ones completely understand and support my passion for education. They empathize when a student or parent interaction leaves me unsatisfied or upset. They also encourage me to step up to the plate and take on more challenges. I could not be the teacher I am without them.
How do you surround yourself with others who bring out the best in you? What am I missing in this discussion? I look forward to sharing more with you.

Bullying and Crazy Aggressive Driving: Synonymous?

 I have started recording some of my thoughts on my morning drive. This morning's tangent was about the issue of bullying as related to adult behaviors like tailgating. Let me know what you think!

Visual Reminders

This student is becoming more aware that she needs to slow down and be careful with directions! She often works speedily!

This student understands the need to stay calm for a test!

This student doesn't talk very much in class but would like to more!

As you can see, slowing down is a goal for several students in my class!

Side conversations take away from our learning. Why not share your great observations and thoughts with everyone?

Yes, it's another reminder to work slowly and steadily.

This student is not happy when his/her desk is messy!

This student knows the importance of cooling off when upset.

The picture above refers to a student who wants to go even faster with math facts!

This student wants to remind herself to calm down at times and not get over excited and disruptive.













At the beginning of this week, fresh and energized by their long weekend, students discussed strategies to help them achieve the learning and behavior goals they set for Quarter 2 and beyond. All agreed that a visual reminder of a picture and/or words might direct us to be mindful of “how” to achieve that goal. What’s my goal in this? I want students to become more aware of and actively participate in the actions that lead them to increased engagement and meaningful learning!


The pictures, affixed to their desks and shared above, reveal the keen awareness of our learners. They know “what” they want to work on and are working on “how” to carry it out. I am very impressed by the students in my class!

Was That a Cheer I Heard?

(note: This post also appears on my school blog which is limited to the school community. I thought it was relevant to share here.)
You may have heard some spirited celebratory cheers coming from the Grade 4 classroom this morning around 9 a.m.. If so, you might have wondered why we were cheering, in a psuedo-sports team huddle,  before beginning the writing assessment.

The rationale is plain and simple. We cheered to encourage each other to relax, do our best, and show what we know about being effective writers. Through this 1 minute routine where we vowed to "Rock the WrAP" we changed the atmosphere from a slightly tense, anxious one, to a relaxed and ready environment.  As we joked about the magic power of our pristine, new Ticonderoga pencils, freshly sharpened for our important task, students breathed deeply as a hush fell over the room.

Every single student worked diligently for the entire hour of our WrAP test today. Each determined face revealed an understanding that it was an opportunity to demonstrate the effects of our recent efforts in writing.  I look forward to tomorrow when I will see  faces beaming with pride as students revise and turn in their final drafts after the second and final hour of WrAP testing.

If you're curious about some of the fascinating research in the field of positive emotions and cognition, be sure to check out the work of Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research lends key support to the importance of a positive, safe classroom environment where students take risks and grow from reflecting on their mistakes.

Thanks for all you do in supporting your child. I hope you hear me cheering for you in appreciation!

A Teachable Moment

The following post is from my class blog, which is private to protect student confidentiality. When a post seems relevant for a general audience, I will share it here!


This was the scene in our classroom on Friday as we discovered that someone had taken a nail and jabbed it into one of our beloved stability balls. For the rationale behind the use of stability balls in the classroom, stay tuned for a future post!

The conversation that ensued was interesting as students shared thoughts about why someone would have “done such a thing” to a ball that everyone enjoys using! I expressed my disappointment that one of our friends had not thought through their actions far enough to realize that this was a bad idea. I also shared that it would be very important for that person to come and talk with me so that we could make a plan for better decision making! We are really working on thinking through our words and actions before saying or doing something we might later regret.

Inspired by this article I recently read about the process of scientific inquiry, I facilitated a discussion where we  hypothesized and came up with possible explanations for this deflated ball.  We wrote what we knew in an “evidence bucket”: that the ball had a nail stuck in it, it was now deflated and we would only have 2 left for our use. Students also pointed out  that sometimes kids are curious and try things without thinking through the consequences.  One of the students also mentioned that the nail had been in our classroom prior to this incident and had made a hole in a bean bag chair.  We talked about how lucky we were that no one sat on the nail and how we could have made better decisions about the nail than passing it around the class.

What was the “take way”? Hopefully this incident makes students think about their words and actions before talking or acting in a way they might regret. The other serendipitous  result: students learned how to process “evidence” and understand that hypotheses must always be backed up by evidence.
Fortunately, some new stability balls were already headed our way before this unfortuante incident. I encourage you to talk with your child about the importance of making good decisions and respecting classroom property.
Thanks so much for your support.