By Teachers, For Teachers
Using teaching strategies to build solid relationships with your students is the key to their academic success. If you take the time to bond with each and every student, then it will not only carry over into the academic lives, but their social lives as well. Here a few teaching strategies that you can use to build a solid relationship with your students to ensure that they will be academically (and socially) successful throughout their lives.
There is an old saying that goes, “People respect those that respect them.” Respect is a two-way street, you can’t get it unless you give it. You may think that because you are the adult that it automatically means that you should be respected. But if you are an individual that is unkind and has no regard for others, then you cannot expect someone (regardless of their age) to respect you, out of the sheer fact that you are superior in age to them. It is imperative that you respect all of your students. While it may be hard for you to do for some of them, you have to remember that you do not know where your students come from or the battles that they face in their home life. That is where the next tip to building a solid relationship with your students comes in.
You can show students that you care about them by taking an avid interest in their lives. Many students are facing battles outside of the classroom that you have no idea about. By taking a real interest in each student, and really getting to know them, you can make a huge impact on their life, not only socially but academically as well.
If you have the extra time, show up for their extracurricular events. If you cannot do that, then find out what they enjoy and talk to them about that. If you know that the majority of your students are into a new app that is out, then ask them to explain how it works. Or, if you see that a lot of your students are into sports, than talk to them about that. Take the time to get to know them as a person, not just a student that is there to just learn.
Building a strong, healthy student-teacher relationship means that you need to acknowledge their efforts. Everyone likes to be recognized for their effort: It means that you are being seen and appreciated for the time that you spent, and the effort that they put forth. Students want to know that you are watching them and seeing the effort that they have put forth. An easy way to help build a great bond with students is to just literally pat them on the back and say an encouraging word. This simple, positive touch is an easy gesture that can go a long way.
Just as it’s important for you to take the time to get to know your students better, it’s just as important for you to let your students get to know you better. Share stories from your life and let the students into your world. Talk about your adventures in school when you were a child, and tell them about what your life is like now, outside of the classroom. A lot of the time your students have this misguided perception of you as a superhero that can do no wrong, or as a person whose whole life is revolved around teaching. Let them get to know you better and they will soon see you as a real person, not just a teacher.
It’s OK to laugh, and make jokes, and have fun with your students. Being a teacher doesn’t mean that you have to be all business all the time. It’s OK to let your guard down and make learning fun. Smile and greet each day in a positive manner. A positive, happy attitude will get you much farther in building a solid relationship with your students than a negative, stoic one.
These tips will help you solidify a positive relationship with your students. Show them respect, take an avid interest in each one of them, and let them get to know you as well. Acknowledge their efforts and try to have some fun.
Do you have any teaching strategies that helped you build a solid relationship with your students? Please share your tips and suggestions in the comment section bellow, we would love to hear what you have to say.
Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds a Master's of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com, as well as a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com and TeachHUB Magazine. You can follow her at Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, or on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators.


makerspaces, LLC makerspace, Elementary Education, Teacher Preparation Programs, Living Learning Communities, 21st Century Classrooms, First-Year Students, Pre-Service Teachers
This article features the creation of a makerspace in the elementary education (ELED) living and learning community (LLC) residence hall. This space was created based on the growing body of literature demonstrating the rise of makerspaces across learning environments as well as the need to expose pre-service teachers (PSTs) to early field experiences that integrate digital technologies and new media across the elementary curriculum. We provide a roadmap for others who aim to create makerspaces in conjunction with teacher preparation programs and living learning communities. We also reflect on ways to improve our process, recommending further research into the effectiveness of makerspaces as field experiences for students preparing for 21st century careers.
Shively, K. L.
Reflections from the Field: Creating an Elementary Living Learning Makerspace.
Learning Communities Research and Practice, 5(1), Article 3.
Available at: https://washingtoncenter.evergreen.edu/lcrpjournal/vol5/iss1/3


Hobbies Playing Music How to Play the C7 Chord on Guitar Share PINTEREST Email Print Playing Music Playing Guitar Basics Tutorials Tab, Chords & Lyrics Music Education Playing Piano Home Recording By Dan Cross Dan Cross is a professional guitarist and former private instructor who has experience teaching and playing various styles of music. our editorial process Dan Cross Updated February 22, 2019 The C7 chord is very similar to a regular C major chord in terms of notes. It has the same three notes as a C major chord—C, E, and G—but the C7 chord has one extra note—a B♭. The resulting sound is quite different from a regular C major chord. There are times where you can substitute a C7 for a C major, but in many cases, it just sounds "wrong"—so you'll need to do some experimenting. 01 of 03 How to Play the C7 chord To play a basic C7 (also called a "C dominant seventh") chord, start by placing your: third finger on the third fret of the fifth stringsecond finger on the second fret of the fourth stringfourth finger on the third fret of the third stringfirst finger on the first fret of the second string Now, strum strings five through one, taking care to avoid hitting the low E string. 02 of 03 C7 Barre Chord With Root on Fifth String This C7 shape is a little trickier to play, as it requires you to "barre" your first finger across multiple strings at once. The shape is referred to as a "barre chord," and you're going to find it challenging to play at first. Here's how you go about playing this C7 barre chord shape. Slightly bend your first finger and lay it flat across strings five to one at the third fret. Roll your finger back slightly towards the guitar headstock, so that the side of your finger is just starting to come into contact with the strings. Place your thumb in the middle of the back of the guitar neck, approximately underneath where your first finger is on the surface of the fretboard. Gently apply downward pressure on the strings with your index finger while also exerting a small amount of upward pressure on the back of the neck with your thumb—you're essentially squeezing them together slightly. Place your third finger on the fifth fret of the fourth string and your fourth (pinky) finger on the fifth fret of the second string. The hardest part of playing this chord is keeping your first finger pressed tightly against the fretboard—it is responsible for holding down notes on the fifth, third and first strings. Often, at first, you'll have a hard time getting all those strings to ring clearly. Strum the C7 chord, being sure to avoid the open low E string. Don't be surprised if you only hear one or two notes ring. Try playing each string one by one, identifying exactly what is and is not ringing clearly. If you encounter a string that isn't ringing, adjust your fingers until you get it sounding right, then move on. 03 of 03 C7 Barre Chord With Root on Sixth String Here is a different way to play a C7 chord—a barre chord shape with root on the sixth string. The shape is similar to that of a major barre chord with root on the sixth string—you just need to modify that shape by taking one of your fingers off the fretboard. If you look at the shape and imagine that the barred eighth fret is actually the nut, the rest of the chord resembles an open E7 shape. To play this C7 chord shape, start by slightly bending your first finger and laying it flat across all six strings at the eighth fret. Next, roll the finger back slightly towards the nut—similar to what we did for the C7 barre chord shape at the third fret. Next, place your thumb in the middle of the back of the neck, underneath your first finger Put downward pressure on the strings with your index finger while also exerting a small amount of upward pressure on the back of the neck with your thumb. Then, start placing your other fingers on the guitar. Place your third finger at the tenth fret of the fifth stringsecond finger at the ninth fret of the third string ... now strum all six strings. Your first finger is doing most of the work here—it's responsible for playing the notes on the sixth, fourth, second and first strings. It's probable that when you first play this chord, you won't hear many strings ringing clearly. Don't get frustrated—go through each string one by one, ensuring it is ringing clearly. If not, try adjusting your hand position slightly until you can get the note to ring, then move on to the next string.


"You decide, we provide!"
To help with the transition between the Early Years and Key Stage One the children continue to be at the centre of our curriculum. The children's interests form the basis of our topic based approach, allowing them to have ownership of their own learning. This cross curricular approach enables the children to apply previously learnt skills within all areas of learning, without even realising! We ensure that our literacy and numeracy skills are used within other areas of the curriculum giving them never ending opportunities to put their learning and skills to the test!
The KS1 children have worked closely with those children in EYFS to create this years topics;
Whilst delivering a fun and enjoyable curriculum, staff ensure that all children are challenged and supported appropriately, according to each child's learning style and needs. This allows all children the opportunity to reach their full potential and succeed.
Whilst doing this the children are continually assessed against the September 2014 national curriculum outcomes. This allows staff and children to set achievable yet challenging targets in reading, writing and maths, ensuring that we all succeed.


Trisha Moquino, Olivia Coriz, and Mara Matteson describe the philosophy and practice behind the new Keres Children’s Learning Center
All 19 Indian pueblos of New Mexico have an understanding that we are at a critical point in our long history — that critical point being the difference between language loss and language maintenance and revitalization. Many Pueblos still feel it is the responsibility of the family to give language, and in families where language remains strong, this is still being done. With this understanding and the desire to support families in maintaining their children’s language in the crucial early childhood years, the Keres Children’s Learning Center (KCLC) opened at Cochiti Pueblo in September 2012 after six years of preparation: researching related endeavors, developing the model, shoring up financial support, and laying the groundwork in the community.
Co-founded by Trisha Moquino and Olivia Coriz, the school begins as a preschool, serving children from ages two and a half to four. The pedagogical approach is Montessori, and the language of instruction is Keres, the unwritten language of the Cochiti people. As the children matriculate to ages six and older, the school will evolve into a dual-language Montessori school, and an English language teacher will join the team.
The school was created to address the critical language loss being experienced at Cochiti Pueblo and to give Cochiti parents the opportunity to educate their children in a manner that is in line with traditional practices and where they know their children will hear Keres in an immersion setting. Parents and families are supported through weekly evening seminars in which we discuss their responsibility to pass on the Keres language. In passing on the language, values, beliefs, and a worldview like none other are also transferred to the next generation.
At KCLC, children receive lessons that are culturally appropriate as well as lessons that will prepare them for mainstream education. KCLC emphasizes creating self-motivated learners through meaningful everyday lessons and activities, such as washing dishes, cleaning windows, setting up snacks for classmates, grace and courtesy, caring for the self, and learning the foundational skills for future literacy, numeracy, and the humanities.
The ultimate goal is to have our students be truly bilingual. With families and KCLC working together to reclaim the children’s education, we put our faith and our hearts into this effort. KCLC is independently funded. While it is a struggle to raise the necessary money, it gives KCLC freedom from the many early-childhood English-oriented policies that would interfere with its primary purpose. KCLC is grateful to everyone who has supported and contributed to our efforts.
Trisha Moquino and Olivia Coriz are co-founders of KCLC, and Mara Matteson is a teacher at the school. This article originally appeared in Soleado, published by Dual Language Education of New Mexico — www.dlenm.org. For more articles from Soleado, please visit www.soleado.dlenm.org.
To catch a glimpse of day-to-day life at KCLC, please visit the Keres Children’s Learning Center Facebook page. For more information on KCLC, visit www.kclcmontessori.org.
The languages spoken by the Pueblo people of Acoma, Cochiti, Laguna, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Santo Domingo, and Zia Pueblos are so closely related that linguists usually consider them dialects of a single language, known as Keres or Keresan. This Keresan language is not related at all to the Kiowa-Tanoan languages spoken by most of the other Pueblo people of New Mexico. Keres is spoken by nearly 11,000 people in the American Southwest today.
There is some disagreement among the Keres people as to whether Keres should be a written language or not. Some Pueblo elders feel that their languages should be preserved by oral traditions alone. However, many Keres speakers have decided that literacy is important for passing the language on to children. The Keres-speaking pueblos have developed their own orthography for their language, and today there are programs teaching Pueblo children to read and write in five of the seven Keres-speaking pueblos.


The Protestant mystic Jacob Boehme was born in Altseidenberg, Silesia. He received only an elementary education but was an enthusiastic student of the Bible and the works of the alchemist Paracelsus. Apprenticed to a cobbler in his youth, Boehme later opened his own shop in Görlitz, Saxony.
Graphic from Bruce B. Janz's Jacob Boehme Resources page
From an early age he saw visions, and throughout his life he claimed to be divinely inspired. In his manuscript The Morning Redness Arising, written in 1612, he recorded his visions and expounded the attributes of God. The work was condemned as heretical by local ecclesiastical and civil authorities, and Boehme was forced to flee to Dresden, Saxony. There he was cleared of charges of heresy and allowed to return to Görlitz. His best-known treatises include Of the Three Principles of the Nature of God, (1619) and The Way to Christ, (1624), The Signature of all Things, and Mysterium Magnum.
As well as alchemical themes his writings contain Kabbalistic concepts. Boehme describes the absolute nature of God as the abyss, the nothing and the all, the primordial depths from which the creative will struggles forth to find manifestation and self-consciousness. The Father, who is groundless Will (c.f. Kabbalah - Keter the first principle is identified with Will), issues forth the Son, who is Love.
Boehme held that everything exists and is intelligible only through its opposite. Thus, he believed, evil is a necessary element in goodness, for without evil the will would become inert and progress would be impossible. Evil is a result of the striving of single elements of Deity to become the whole; conflict ensues as man and nature strive to achieve God. God himself, according to Boehme, contains conflicting elements and antithetical principles within His nature. (c.f. Sri Aurobindo - the Supermind (Godhead Truth-Consciousness) which contains and reconciles all opposites wthin Itself)
Although Boehme's style is very turgid and heavy, his works were widely read and popular in Germany, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. His English followers called themselves Behmenists. Many of them later were absorbed into the Quaker movement. Boehme's writings have influenced modern Western thought in both philosophy and theology. He exerted a profound influence on the philosophies of Baader, Schelling, Hegel, and Schopenhauer. His ideas have also had a formative influence on Theosophy.
taken mostly from "Boehme, Jakob," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.
Boehme or Böhme, Jakob - brief but good intro (I have incorporated most of it into the above page)
Jakob Boehme, life and writings, from the 9th Edition of The Encyclopaedia Britannica - Vol. III, 1878,
Complete Jacob Boehme texts, very well laid out; capture the spirit of the original. Includes:
Four complete texts.
More Jacob Boehme resources in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
Jacob Boehme Resources from B. Janz's Web Pages
- collects existing resources from the WWW on the work, world, and influence of Jacob Boehme, and adds some of the authors's own resources, in an effort to support research and teaching on Boehme.


As a keyboard and music teacher, one of the things I tend to harp on about with my students is to “use your ears.” Clearly, learning to sight read, understanding theory and practicing repertoire are important. However, really HEARING and INTERNALIZING what you play – melodic intervals, harmonies (I often refer to harmony as “colors”), even phrases that repeat within a piece – will boost your musicianship tremendously. Don’t misunderstand me – ear training is a process but it is certainly attainable and rewarding. Probably the best way to develop your ear is to sing while you play. Literally sing the lyrics if there are lyrics, or hum the main melody lines of an instrumental piece. HEAR what you’re singing and playing. I do this with all my students. This connects you to the music at a much deeper level…trust me on this one!
This morning I came across this article which resonates with my ear development philosophy. The website is geared towards jazz and improvisation, but can certainly be applied to music education in general. Check it out for some ear practice tips, but above all – SING!
For the past three or so years, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of teaching private lessons to many students of all ages – primarily in the area of piano/keyboards and in vocals as well. I never imagined I would love it so much…so much that I’ve decided to make music teaching and performance my full-time profession and to “always be learning” this craft.
I’m excited to announce that I’ve embarked on piano teacher courses through The Royal Conservatory, an institution of music education that I’ve aligned myself with for professional development. The mission of The Royal Conservatory is “to develop human potential through leadership in music and the arts”; this mission rings true in my own heart and convictions. For me, pursuing RCM Teacher Certification is not about achieving a feather in my cap, but all about helping your child (or you!) develop human potential via music to the best of my ability.
Good teachers are good students, I say!
One of the coolest aspects of teaching music is that I learn so much from my students. Sometimes it’s a teaching technique from a previous teacher. My favorite is the bass (F) clef line note acronym. This is usually taught as “Good Boys Do Fine Always” – but one of my kids learned it as “Grizzly Bears Don’t Fly Airplanes.” I’ve heard other versions, but the images of bear pilots stick to me the most!
More often though, I am exposed to music I haven’t heard before – which in fact puts me on the spot to learn it myself on the spot (FUN for me!). A lot of the kids will ask me to teach a specific song (usually the latest and greatest pop tune) or maybe a game theme. So the end result is, we really learn it together. Ear training, melody construction, chord theory, and finger strategy are just a few of the possible learning outcomes that can result in 30 or 45 minutes time. The student also gets to witness another person’s (namely, me) learning process.
Piano/music lessons can be powerful moments of learning and making connections with others. -Zach


The purpose of this textbook is to provide resourses about teaching low brass instruments to music educators and future music educators. The book was developed by the author as part of the open/alternative textbook initiative at Kansas State University. It Is the textbook used for the Kansas State University course Music 239-Low Brass Techniques and Materials.
The textbook focuses on two areas: basic information including pedagogical material for teaching low brass students and low brass etudes. The information is divided into several categories including brass history, the overtone series, general intonation tendencies, embouchure, instruments and equipment, literature, maintenance, vibrato, and low brass in the marching band. Pedagogical material is interspersed throughout each of the chapters.
Etudes are incorporated in the appendix of the textbook. These etudes are intended to be used in a laboratory setting with future music educators learning each low brass instrument for the first time. Instrument fingerings, slide positions, and simple warm-up material is also available in the appendix.
New Prairie Press
Music Education, Teaching Brass, Brass, Low Brass, Tuba, Euphonium, Baritone, Trombone, Brass Pedagogy, brass literature
Music | Music Education | Music Pedagogy | Music Practice
Maxwell, Steven, "Teaching Low Brass" (2018). NPP eBooks. 22.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.


The children in the Owlets Nursery are part of the ‘Foundation Stage’ of Education called the ‘Early Years’.
The children work to a broad, well-balanced and planned curriculum which includes seven areas of learning. It enables the development of literacy and numeracy skills as well as physical, intellectual and emotional needs. Play is carefully planned to embrace the seven areas of learning which are:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
In Nursery, the activities are based on the ‘Development Matters’ document from the EYFS and are linked to the children’s personal learning journeys. The learning experiences are presented in a cross curricular way based on themes and topics of interest. The pupils are regularly assessed throughout the two years of Nursery and Reception and an outline of their progress is recorded on each child’s individual profile.
The Owlets are based in two, bright classrooms within the school grounds. The children are taught by a fully qualified specialist team under the leadership of the Early Years Co-ordinator. The Nursery classes also have specialist teaching in French and music.
At the end of their time in Nursery, the children move on to one of our two Reception classes.


Diversity Values Statement
The Aim for Diversity
We approach diversity as a philosophy and as an objective. Central to our purpose is our commitment to attracting the widest array of music innovators into the college community and providing an environment that supports their creative process. We also seek to integrate these values into teaching and decision-making, as our students are influenced through leadership as much as through curriculum.
Diversity Values Statement and Definition
Cultural diversity is integral to the mission of Berklee simply because cultural diversity is integral to music itself. Innovators from diverse backgrounds and cultures have created the music studied here. An essential part of a Berklee education is gaining an appreciation of the rich variety and interdependence of the cultural traditions from which the music that students explore originates.
We must be a community in which every member’s voice is valued and respected. A diverse, inclusive work and learning environment is essential to maintaining our role as a leader in contemporary music education. It is imperative that we take specific steps to attract and retain the widest array of talented musicians and provide an environment that supports and nurtures their creative process. The fulfillment of our mission—to educate, train, and develop students to excel in music as a career—will be demonstrated in their influence both on the future of music and on the larger culture.
We view diversity holistically, understanding that the definition is constantly evolving. Our definition of diversity includes race, color, nationality, ethnicity, class, religion, disability, age, sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. We also know that a diversity of ideas, approaches, disciplines, and learning and musical styles are essential to inclusion and equity. The integration of myriad cultural values and perspectives into what we do at all levels, from teaching to decision-making, is critical.
Many challenges lie ahead in all areas. We believe that increased diversity will support our strategic objective of attracting the highest-quality students, faculty, and staff to Berklee. To accomplish this, we must create a welcoming and supportive multicultural atmosphere for all members of our community. This focus is not the work of any one individual or office; it is the work of everyone. In this spirit, we will encourage a campus-wide climate of respect, openness, and awareness that celebrates and values our diversity.
For more information, see the Office for Diversity and Inclusion.


The Ultimate Reading Experiment
The Aim and Hypothesis of the Experimental Study
The E-Z reading, which is a new reading method described by our firm appears perfect in theory. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of the method incorporated into the program should be tested. Although the method may appear perfect as well as faultless, failure to put it into practice means, it has no use in business or social applications.
Buy Behavioral Pattern Test essay paper online
a) The Experimental Group
Literate children at the elementary education level are the targets of the new technique. In other words, the targeted audience are children who have accumulated some basic reading capability, but are still far from being perfect readers (letters are sometimes forgotten, words are read aloud by syllabuses, memorizing and retelling seems an unfeasible task for the overwhelming majority of the children (more than 80%).
Each group (Miss Jones and Mrs. Brown’s) comprises of 21 children each. The gender and age representation is equal (11 girls and 10 boys of 7 years). In order to equalize the course of the experiment, the pupils with the most advanced and worst progress are excluded on a temporary vacation.
b) The Control Group
The control group has three pedagogues. First, to minimize the potential stress and tension, Miss Jones and Mrs. Brown proceed with the education process. During the outcomes assessment stage, the third, independent educator is engaged (Mr. Smith.)
Methodology and Experimental Steps
Step 1 Implicate
Group A (Mrs. Brown’s kids) are studying following the guidelines prescribed by the new set of methods. Conventional techniques and methods of reading comprehension must be entirely abandoned to achieve the maximum effectiveness of the test (Schultz & Schultz, 1987). In order to ensure effectiveness, the rules of fair play are meticulously observed, video cameras are insensibly montage in the classroom, and Mrs. Brown is made aware of this fact, whereas the children stay uninformed in order to avoid extra stress.
Group B (Miss Jones’s fosterlings) are proceeding with the educational program according to the conventional set of reading comprehension methods. Neither cameras, nor other distractions are involved. The process goes on as usually.
After the two-week period ensued, the groups are tested separately. Apart from their mentors, the independent teacher is invisibly (via the web camera) present and independently and impartially assesses the achievements demonstrated by the children. If his mentor’s opinion diverges significantly, his opinion is deemed the ultimate.
The Results of the Experiment
If the unanimous opinion of the mentoring teachers and the ultimate supervisor indicates that the methods applied in the group, A has fetched considerably better results than those techniques followed by group B. Undoubtedly, the newly elaborated technique should be incorporated in the educational process. The conventional methods are put on hold in case the results display the reverse process, insignificant improvement, or no improvement at all. At the same time, the limitations of the approach are identified and eliminated.
Here, the independent variable is represented by the novel set of reading comprehension technique. On the other hand, the dependent variable is represented by the educational outcomes displayed by the children in terms of reading and complementary methods (memorizing and retelling).
Case Inadaptability and Correlations
Because of the novelty of the method speculated above, case studies and correlations about the subject, which entirely matches the requirements of the riddle, do not exist (Brennan, 1991, p. 31). Anyhow, those, which do exist, are outdated and cannot objectively reflect the mental process of the contemporary kids’ community.
Related Free Health Essays
- Teenage Sexuality and Birth Control Choices
- Behavioral Pattern TestTeenage Sexuality and Birth Control Choices
- Causes of Teenage Drinking, is it a New Trend
- Suitability of PowerPoint Presentation for teaching Pregnant Women Nutrition and Gestational
- Tooth and Claw
- Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation
- Public Health Perspective: Oklahoma City Bombing
- Population-Based Health Problem
- A Plan to Convert an Organization from a Paper to an Electronic Health Record
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Most popular orders


By: Elyse Schultz M.A. CCC-SLP
CommuniKids had the pleasure of attending a two-day seminar presented by the talented and insightful, Lois Kam Heymann M.A, CCC-SLP. Mrs. Heymann presented on “Auditory Processing Disorder and Listening Challenges” in a school-age population.
She has significant experience working with a variety of children with central auditory processing disorder ([C]APD) and coexisting diagnoses that contribute to listening difficulties.
Listening Developmental Milestones
On day one of our seminar, Mrs. Heymann highlighted listening developmental milestones from birth to school-age children. Additionally, she reviewed initial indicators or at-risk behaviors presented in children with (C)APD or listening challenges. A child with listening challenges may include the following:
- Difficulty hearing in noise
- Difficulty distinguishing between similar-sounding words or sounds
- Difficulty following directions,
- Poor reading and spelling skills
- Short attention span
Learning about these indicators and behaviors allows us as clinicians to better identify these challenges in our clients and select the appropriate evaluation tools for each child’s specific needs. This, in turn, informs our treatment plan and approach to therapy.
A comprehensive evaluation with a battery of tests to assess the areas of auditory processing will take place to yield a diagnosis. Based on the areas of breakdown in the child’s communication, the clinician will determine a “top-down” or “bottom-up” approach to target the area(s) of difficulty.
It is important to recognize that there are foundational skills required to achieve certain goals. For example, a child must first maintain auditory attention in order to learn new vocabulary or improve comprehension skills. This knowledge and information gathered from the evaluation and parent reportage will be the most efficient tools for planning successful intervention.
Treatment Models and Strategies for Auditory Processing Disorder
On our second day, it was time to start treating and planning sessions! Mrs. Heymann discussed treatment models, specific strategies, and materials that can be used during intervention. She provided valuable resources, techniques, and materials to address specific areas of difficulty.
One of my favorite activities she shared with us involved the use of a book to improve listening skills. Mrs. Heymann taught us how to take a book filled with tons of auditory and visual information and manipulate the information during therapy to assist the client in tuning into salient information.
She stressed the idea of meeting the child at their skill level and then fading cues to accomplish the end goal. For example, when retelling a story, provide sequential visuals and covering up one, then two, then three sequenced picture cards, and so on until the client has demonstrated story retell solely based on auditory input (i.e. visual input has been faded). Using this model of fading cues, a variety of goals can be targeted.
Success at School
Lastly, Mrs. Heymann discussed school accommodations and how to set the child up for success by making seemingly small recommendations for classroom setup or teacher responses that can make all the difference! For example, she recommended assigning preferential seating in the classroom based on the child’s needs or utilizing a classroom or personal FM system depending on the child’s deficits.
Lois Kam Heymann M.A, CCC-SLP provided the CommuniKids staff with a wealth of invaluable knowledge that we have and will continue to apply to the clients we treat. Her presentation has allowed us to expand upon our current work. Learning is an ongoing process and allows us to continuously build upon what we know and do to be even better clinicians. Our success is measured by our client’s success. With this continuing education, we can all be more successful!
Contact our team today for more information about auditory processing disorder and how we can help your child!


When you enroll in your doctoral program, you are probably not considering how to improve your reading comprehension. While you may already have some good reading strategies in place, consider the level of reading and the amount of reading required in a doctoral program. Additional responsibilities outside of academics like a job and family also keep you busy. It is important to know some effective reading comprehension strategies for adults.
1. Improve Vocabulary
As you get further into your doctoral program, you will find that the jargon and terminology used in academic research is complex. Scholarly material is often written with the assumption that the reader has expertise in the field and requires minimal background information.
Learning words in their proper context is one way to improve your reading comprehension as a doctoral learner. This requires reading texts that are challenging but still comprehensible. When you find words that you are unfamiliar with, you should read around them to see if you can understand the use of the word in its sentence. If you cannot, you might need to look up the meaning of the word or see if it is used in a more familiar context.
2. Critical Literacy
Critical literacy comes from a strong foundation of knowledge the ability to actively read, analyze and critique new information. Active reading is the crux of your dissertation, so you need to spend time in your doctoral program practicing these skills. To begin reading with critical literacy you should skim a text to get a thorough understanding of the topic.
Read the titles and headings, understand where the authors are coming from, read the summaries and conclusions and decide what big questions you expect the article to answer. While you keep those questions in mind, jot down the main concepts that you come across in the reading. If your main questions are not answered, that is something you can include in your critique of the article.
Unanswered questions may also help you to find additional research or to formulate your own hypotheses about the topic. When you are finished reading the article and reviewing the information, give yourself time to process the information. After this, write a summary of what you learned and what lingering questions you still have. Finally, read several more texts on the topic so that you can compare the way authors present the information.
3. Speed Reading
As a busy doctoral student, you do not have much time to spend reading articles, books and journals. You have your own research to conduct, as well as a personal life to maintain. That is why many doctoral students study the art of speed-reading.
Effective speed-reading requires awareness of how you read text. If you read each word one by one, as you may have been taught in grade school, then you are taking up too much time. Train yourself to let your eyes glide over the words in order to focus on the big ideas. In letting your eyes glide, you should be reading clusters of words rather than any single word. You will then begin to train yourself to skip over words in sentences that do not give vital information (articles and some prepositions). Finally, you will move up to skimming. When you skim through a text effectively, you can read it and your eyes will only pick up the most important information. Your brain does the rest by making connections between what your eyes see the meaning of the text.
At Grand Canyon University’s College of Doctoral Studies, you will have expert faculty and resources such as the Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching to support your success in the doctoral journey. If you are ready to take the next step in your career and contribute to the body of knowledge in your field, consider enrolling in one of our programs by visiting our website or clicking on the Request More Information button on this page.


By Teachers, For Teachers
If you’re looking to improve your teaching, then getting student feedback is the best way to that. Just as your students benefit from getting feedback on their work, you too can benefit from getting feedback on your teaching and classroom management from your students. The more information that you gather about your teaching skills, the more that you can improve upon, as well as make classroom management changes that will benefit your students. It’s also a great way to help you develop as a teacher. Self-reflection is an important part of developing your craft as a teacher. However, your students are the ones that are obtaining the information that you give them, so getting feedback from them can really make a difference in how you can use classroom management to improve as a teacher. Here are a few useful ways to get information from your students on how they perceive your teaching.
There are a variety of different way that you solicit feedback from your students. Here are a few teacher favorites.
To help you set new goals and improve your teaching methods, have a mid-year, as well as an end-of-year, student focus group. Focus groups are a great way for students to see how others think the course is going. To start, divide students into a few small groups and give them the following discussion questions. If you think it’ll make students feel more comfortable, and compelling, to answer honestly, then have a colleague manage the focus groups.
Getting feedback from an anonymous note is a great way to learn how students really feel. Encourage students to leave a typed (so you won’t know who it’s from by their handwriting) note on your desk anytime they feel they need to comment on your teaching. This is a great way for you to learn how you’re doing as a teacher in a non-threatening way from your students.
Have your students fill out an anonymous open-ended survey both mid-year as well as end-of-year. The anonymity of the survey will allow students to be honest, so you can have an idea of how well your class is really going. Here are a few sample questions that you can ask students.
Another feedback option that you can get from your students is to conduct a rated questionnaire. This is when the teacher writes down several statements regarding their teaching style and class, along with a rating scale next to each statement. Here are a few sample statements that you can use.
Many teachers tend to avoid getting student feedback because they think the students will not take it seriously. However, when you word your questions to fit your students’ age group, and make sure that each question is short and to the point, then students will take the time to give you useful feedback. Also, make sure that you tell students that their input matters.
Do you use student feedback to improve your teaching skills? If so, what is your classroom management strategy for getting the most out of your students? Please share with us in the comment section below, we’d love to hear from you on this topic.
Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds Masters of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com, TeachHUB Magazine, and Hey Teach. She was also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com for five years. You can follow her on Twitter @empoweringed, on Facebook at Empowering K12 Educators, or contact her at Janellecox78@yahoo.com.


Empathetic Lesson Planning to Include Diverse Populations
By: K. M. Walton
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Can you read that for me? Could you write how you feel after you read it? Could you share any personal connections you made to the text? Do you picture anything in your mind while you read it? Would you answer a few questions about what you read?
What’s that? You can’t do any of those things? Are you sure? I’d like you to try again. Try a little harder this time. What do you mean you still can’t do what I’m asking? What’s wrong with you? Read it again. Do you have it now?
And so it goes.
Life for an “everyday” Arabic Language Learner is no different than our very own English Language Learner. Bottom line, it’s hard. When you slip on the ESL student’s shoes they’re two sizes too small – tight, pinching, difficult to walk in. Imagine the frustration and confusion felt on a daily basis. I’d want to kick those shoes off and go barefoot.
The playing field must be leveled for true learning to take place. Any good educator worth her salt knows this. But what does that look like? Sound like? Planning with an empathetic heart is crucial—put yourself into those pinching shoes and craft lessons that will bring every learner to the leveled field. Take the time to consistently create learning opportunities where students celebrate their diversity and put themselves into each other’s shoes. It’s the empathy component that will make the deepest impact.
One idea: read alouds with a focus on courage (or hope, change, fears, intolerance, injustice, social action, etc…), from a variety of sources, and allow your students respond in writing. And of course, share/discuss. Make empathetic accommodations to your lessons for your ESL students—create ways in which they can meaningfully participate. Confidence will bolster and trust will be built.
While I’m no longer in the classroom, my educational philosophy remains locked in concrete, and it spills into the young adult novels I now write: adults—educators in particular—hold the tremendous power of inspiration. Students everywhere are waiting to be inspired. Young people are poised to do great things, to help each other, to open their minds—all they need is direction, from the adults in their lives.
Go for it.
K. M. Walton is the author of Cracked (Simon Pulse 2012), Empty (Simon Pulse 2013) and the co-author of Teaching Numeracy: 9 Critical Habits to Ignite Mathematical Thinking (Corwin Press 2011) for mathematics teachers K – 8. She is a graduate of West Chester University, with a degree in elementary education. As a former middle-school language-arts teacher she’s passionate about ending peer bullying. She gives school presentations on the topic “The Power of Human Kindness.” She lives in PA with her husband, two sons, cat, and turtle. Visit the author at kmwalton.com or follow her on twitter @kmwalton1.


While each core curriculum can change in school to school, most education degree programs include courses in several relevant parts of education. These courses are produced to offer you the understanding needs to be a effective teacher.Some schools also gives you the liberty to select your very own curriculum for the online degree. Meaning you could to choose which regions of exercising field you have to gain understanding of. The chance to create your own personal curriculum gives you a unique background that allows you to certainly certainly stand out within the competition and attracts potential employers. Some concentrations for online education levels include Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Adult Education, Distance an internet-based-based Education, Educational Administration, and Special Education.Individuals who’ve their online education levels in Elementary Education usually educate school through fifth grade. The primary goals within the degree would be to create a foundation in studying, writing, math, science, history, combined with the social sciences for individuals children. The courses during this subject are created that will help you prepare to teach these land numerous study. Some course titles include Philosophy in the practice, Psychology of Learning, and Teaching Methods. You may also be required to consider courses in computers.A specific amount in Secondary Education is wonderful for individuals who wish to educate junior school and college aged children. Many people who obtain degree in secondary education focus their training across the particular subject, for instance British, math, or science. The courses during this subject will educate you about different teaching techniques, curriculum development, along with other connected topics.A web-based-based degree in Adult Education can help you prepare to teach and educate adults. This might provide a teaching career in colleges, universities, and learning centers. People pursuing this degree generally concentrate on a specific subject, and have experience with the particular field. Courses during this subject of study include Adult Growth and development, Adult Psychology, and Program Planning and Development.A specific amount in Distance an internet-based-based Education can help you prepare to function to learn online. People with this degree generally focus on universites and colleges teaching their courses online. A couple of within the courses in this degree include Foundations of internet Learning, Technology to understand Online, and Learning and teaching in Online Online Learning.Individuals who’ve their levels in Educational Administration manage individuals activities in schools, daycare centers, and universites and colleges. They can also be company company company company directors of educational programs in companies, prisons, and museums. Many will still be college presidents and college district superintendents. Courses during this subject of study include Summary of Educational Research and Evaluation, Policy Studies, Current Issues in Education, and academic Leadership.People who wish to use disabled children and/or adults obtain online education levels in Special Education. This degree can help you prepare to make use of individuals who’ve learning disabilities, mental health issues, physical disabilities, as well as other conditions. Courses during this subject include Educational Psychology, Legalities of Special Education, Child Growth and development, and methods for Teaching Students with Disabilities.
What Specialties Are Suitable For Purchase To Online Education Levels?
Jun 10, 2018, 07:16 amComments Off on What Specialties Are Suitable For Purchase To Online Education Levels?189
Previous PostFortune Hi-Tech Marketing Reviews - Is Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing a Legit Business Chance? Next PostSix Challenges Facing Business Proprietors


When horsepower replaced horse power
Antique farm equipment collector Jerry Toews will bring equipment that revolutionized farming between 1910 and 1920 to Goessel’s 46th annual County Threshing Days Aug. 2-4.
“The things we take over are our large prairie tractors and a steam engine,” Toews said. “They weigh about 25,000 pounds each. They were really a miraculous part of farming from 1910 to 1920. In the days these were made, most farming was done with a horse pulling a plow.”
Toews and his wife, Leann, like to collect the largest model of equipment made by manufacturing companies.
“I mostly focus on the very earliest internal combustion engines — some that date back into the 1800s — and steam and gas tractors,” Toews said.
The equipment took farming, into the modern era, Toews said.
“They cost $3,000 to $4,000 in their time, and that took it out of the hands of most farmers,” he said. “What farmers did was go together to buy them. They would do custom work in their community and drive from one farm to the next. Usually they’d go there a week or two and then drive to the next farm where they had work to do.”
Toews doesn’t know how many such machines were bought in the Goessel area, but he has early photographs of Goessel threshing crews using the equipment.
“I would guess there were six or seven crews that operated in the Goessel community,” he said.
Farming techniques before the machinery came into use meant heavy manual labor.
“There was a reason families had a lot of kids,” Toews said. “Everything was done by hand, and if you were going to farm, you needed a bunch of kids to help do the work.”
Another difference was typical yield.
“Back in those days 15 bushels an acre was a pretty good crop,” he said. “Today if they had 15 bushels an acre they wouldn’t even bother to go cut it.”
Toews’s steam engine will be belted up and running a sawmill during Threshing Days.
Toews grew up in Nickerson and worked for farmers before getting a degree in music education at Bethel College. Now retired from teaching, he and his wife live just beyond the east edge of Goessel with three large steel buildings to store their collection.
Gates to Threshing Days open at noon Aug. 2.
Buttons are available for $4 in advance or $5 at the gate. Museum admission is included in the price of the button. Buttons are good for entry all three days, and are available at the museum or Keith’s Foods in downtown Goessel.
An Irish Celtic band, Knocknasheega, will perform old and modern folk music at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 2 at Goessel High School auditorium.
Aug. 3 activities will kick off with a parade at 9:30 a.m.
Engines will fire up Aug. 3 for demonstrations.
“After that we have a low German meal at 10:30 a.m. in the elementary school,” Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum curator Fern Bartel said. “They serve until 1:30 p.m.”
Barbecue sandwiches and bierocks, chips, cookies, and drinks will be sold in the 1906 Prep School on the museum grounds.
Kids’ crafts will be available in Uncle Milt’s Shed.
On Aug. 4, an open house at the Schroeder Barn will give visitors a chance to see restoration work on the barn, which is nearing completion.
Bartel said the Schroeder family lived in two rooms of the barn for a few years, with four children born there. Later the family moved into a house built on their property.
“One thing I think was cool was that during the restoration they found, in one section of wall, stuffed straw, very tightly packed to insulate,” Bartel said.
Toews said a tram would run for people who can’t or don’t want to walk through the entire grounds.


Explore Fiber is a collaborative website showcasing and exploring fiber as a fine art material.
“What’s the Big Idea?” journal page by Christine Miller
Education is changing in some ways to adapt to the 21st c., but has been and continues to be grounded in an ancient practice of asking questions. Socrates is the first guy that got credit for it, and now (in the beginning of the 21st century) we are strongly reaching back to these fundamental questioning activities. Though there are articles and books to help teachers select the best Essential Questions to give their students, the questions that our students generate themselves are the most meaningful, relevant, powerful and essential. Reconnecting our students with the joys of questioning (& thinking – remember, they all asked tons of questions when they were 4) is a big part of the goal of teaching today. Thank goodness we are making our way back to more autonomy for our students; we are teaching them how to take charge of their learning; we are letting them explore a little slice of life and encouraging them to ask as many questions about it as possible.
Explore Fiber lessons are designed to:
We are not suggesting what “Big Ideas” you should use for a particular lesson, so we have not included a specific direction that we think you should take in each project. in fact we are encouraging you to have you or your students choose the Big Idea you want to frame a lesson in. Each lesson could be approached from different Big Ideas, and combed with a questioning strategy, your student will create a meaningful and unique artistic expression.
Big Ideas, also referred to as Enduring Ideas, or Themes, are ideas that are common to all humanity. We all know things like: love, conflict, identity, fantasy, etc. There are many, many Big Ideas that are a great jumping off point for an artistic endeavor. Let us show you how you can adapt any one of our lessons to be viewed through a variety of Big Ideas. For instance, the Sculptural Needle Felting lesson on this site could be inspired by these Big Ideas:
Choosing the Big Idea you want to explore provides a great jumping off point for an exploration. The instructor or the student can decide what Big Idea they want to explore. Here is a Big Ideas in Art handout that the author has put together with the help of some friends. This is by no means an exhaustive list! Perhaps you have some Big Ideas you’ve thought about not on this list – add them! It’s fun to peruse the list of possible “lenses” to view life from – this is what makes art so dynamic and essential to man’s existence!
Reconnecting our students to the excitement of questioning is where the art of teaching and the excitement of learning really intersect. The more you can work questioning activities into your teaching practice, the more connected, excited, motivated and curious your students will become! It is truly magical to see our students immersed in their work, excited and engaged from bell to bell! If you aren’t including questioning activities into your classroom routine, we are listing some wonderful resources below to support your learning in this area as well. This list is by no means exhaustive either! We would love to hear from you with your own discoveries about questioning activities.
Take the time to check these resources out – EXPLORE! Have fun! Reconnect (or strengthen) your own questioning! Find activities that resonate with you, that you could incorporate into your own dance of teaching. Share resources you have found, or experiences you have had with your students. Remember, our mission is for Explore Fiber to be an interactive community, so feel free to reach out to us. Here area some of the resources we have discovered:
Question Formulation Technique: Dan Rothstein & Luz Santana:
Artful Thinking: Developed by the Traverse City Area Public Schools and Project Zero at Harvard Graduate School of Education
Project Zero: Harvard Graduate School of Education
Have something to add to this resource page? Contact Us at Explore Fiber and contribute to the conversation about best practices in our art education classrooms!


What role do galleries play in the art world? What is an art gallery’s purpose and structure? What will the gallery of the future look like? This course will focus on the general operations of art galleries to explore different models of how to run a gallery, as well as what it takes to be successful in the current art market. Through lectures and site visits, participants will get the inside scoop on running a gallery in today’s art world. Students will look at the process of developing gallery startups, study general budgeting, and examine issues related to staffing and sourcing artworks. Students will look at sales strategies to institutions, private collectors, and art education for the public to help build and sustain profits. Students will examine media communications, artists’ estate representation, and practice building sample exhibition schedules and related programming. As part of the course, students will have the opportunity to put theory into practice by developing a business model for their own art gallery, whether online or offline.
Students will learn:
- To identify the basics of starting an art gallery, including daily operations and economic contexts.
- To recognize the different approaches that galleries take on crucial aspects of the business, as described by professionals working in the field.
- To develop a business model for a gallery and gain hands-on experience as an art gallery entrepreneur.


By Teachers, For Teachers
Many teachers focus a great deal of their time and energy into classroom management. They focus their time on how students should be behaving and what students should be doing. While this is an important component into having an efficient and effective classroom, using teaching strategies that create a learning environment that promotes equality is just as important. Equality is about all students getting a fair and equal education. It is where all students pose ideas, share ideas, and are explicitly welcomed to participate. When educators use teaching strategies to structure their learning environment to welcome and promote student engagement and equality, we can rest assured that students are learning. Here are five specific teaching strategies that promote equality in the classroom. These strategies will help you cultivate a classroom where all students are welcomed to participate equally.
A simple way to ensure that all students are getting an equal chance to participate is to use the cooperative learning strategy Think-Pair-Share. This approach gives all students the opportunity to have an equal chance at participating (even if they don’t want to). This strategy involves having students write their ideas down about a specific topic, pair up with a partner or a neighbor in class and discuss and compare their thoughts, then share their thoughts with the whole class.
Creating a classroom environment that promotes equality means trying out new strategies that require all students to participate, even the ones who do not like to share or speak up. If it was left up to the students to determine who would share and who would not, the naturally extroverted students would surely take over while the introverted students would happily sit quietly. By assigning a student reporter when in small groups, you are providing access to participation for all students, regardless if they like to speak up or not.
This strategy is simple: Randomly call upon a student when doing group work to share their ideas or thoughts for their group. You can do this by using colored coded chips or sticks, a visual characteristic of a person like their hair color or eye color, or even by something like who has the closest birthday. This strategy is easy and tends to get the more introverted students a chance to equally share their thoughts.
Many educators monitor student participation by how many times a student raises their hand or how often they ask questions in class. However, to structure your classroom in a way that encourages equality and participation, you must do a few things. First, when you notice that the same students are always raising their hands, say, “Thank you for your participation, however I would like to hear from some other students in class.” Second, give students a moment to share their thoughts with their neighbor. Sometimes all a shy student needs is the validation of a peer to feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts with the whole class. Last, it is up to you, the educator, to show your students that you demand that all students participate equally.
In order to engage all students equally, you must vary your learning strategies. This means that you must incorporate active strategies that will reach all learners. In order to do this, you must know how your students learn best. Some may prefer to talk with their peers, while others may prefer another way to communicate. The best way to reach all learners and teach equitably is to make sure that individual learners receive different approaches to learning.
Perhaps the most powerful teaching strategy in building an equitable learning environment is to establish a set of classroom norms. This means promoting acceptable behaviors like, “Everyone’s ideas are important,” and “All ideas must be treated respectfully.” Most importantly, students will see if the teacher reinforces these norms so it is essential that the teacher is comfortable with enforcing all such norms of equality.
Teachers have the power to implement and cultivate a classroom of equality: A classroom that is free to share its values and opinions openly and honestly without feeling ridiculed or judged from its peers. The five teaching strategies above are just the tip of the iceberg for fostering a classroom of equality. There are literally hundreds of ways that you can set up your classroom to promote student engagement and participation. What you do and how you do it is ultimately up to you.
Do you have any thoughts or ideas on how to cultivate an equal learning environment? Please share your thoughts and expertise in the comment section below, we would love to hear what you have to say.
Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds a Master's of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com, as well as a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com and TeachHUB Magazine. You can follow her at Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, or on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators.


The students in each grade have continued learning procedures and expectations and are improving. Thank you for all the family support.
Following the Fall Break, students will begin learning about the Orff instruments in our classroom. Carl Orff was a composer and writer in the early 20th century who developed a method for teaching music. Today, it's referred to simply as the "Orff Method". Music educators can attending certification training in this method. I have obtained my certification in Level One. The small xylophones and metallophones were developed by Mr. Orff for his method. They are central to his philosophy but it also includes lots of singing, moving, composing, and other instruments.
Unfortunately, some of our instruments have been damaged in the past and without funding from the district, five of them are not playable. I have included some of the parts for repairs on my Amazon classroom wishlist. The missing bars can only be purchased through authorized dealers, but you can donate funds for us to do so. If anyone would like to help us obtain these parts, it would be a huge help. All of these items can be found on the "Classroom Needs" page.
Each grade level will get to utilize the instruments throughout the year at various levels depending on their development stage. They are very fun for the students and they get ample opportunities to create and compose their own melodies.
For the Fourth Grade, these instruments will be used to fulfill the "pitched instrument" requirement for the music curriculum. At this time, we do not plan to learn the Recorder.
Also, for third and fourth grades, I will be exploring the option of adding an after-school choral program. I have been a choral director my whole career at all levels and the programs are valuable to the overall music education for those participating students. If we have enough interest, the choir will likely be available only to those students not participating in the Disney musical as rehearsals for both are valuable. However, I will work with the Disney committee to hopefully develop a schedule that can work for all. This is just at an exploratory stage right now.
Thank you for your support!


WRAP is an informal writing and reading assessment profile. An easy-to-use 15-minute assessment tool that enables teachers at 1st Grade K-2 to monitor and collect data on their students' literacy development and behavior. 1. Analyze and interpret reading and writing samples 2. Select resources appropriate to the literacy needs of K-2 students 3. Support and reinforce skills and strategies essential to building a solid literacy foundation.
|Product Type||Complete Kit|
|Guided Reading Level||A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J|
|Grade Level||1st Grade, 2nd Grade, Kindergarten|


The need for child-care professionals and educators has never been greater than it is today. While teachers continue to retire, school enrollment is always on the increase creating a perpetual need for top-quality educators. Parents too are recognizing that a solid foundation in early childhood learning is connected to their children’s future success and educational growth. The need of the hour is for trained educators to provide high-quality education to the younger generation. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that there is a favorable growth expected in the field of early childhood education over the next decade.
Before you embark on a career in early childhood education, a healthy dose of soul searching is recommended. A career in early childhood education is not to be taken lightly. It may involve a whole lot of play and fun, but there is a serious responsibility attached to the molding of minds and shaping the lives of little children. If you are thinking of an early childhood education degree, you need to ask yourself if you truly love children and have an aptitude to continually impart patient loving care. There can be no middle ground here. You will be spending the better part of your day with them so you will need a great deal of patience and love to truly succeed. In addition to this, you need to be creative with excellent communication skills. It will open up multiple opportunities for you.
Early childhood educators deal with children from infancy to eight years of age. As a teacher to these youngsters, you will be training and developing their physical, emotional and intellectual skills in a variety of challenging ways. There will be a whole lot of creative expression and hands-on activities involved such as games, artwork, story time, music, role-playing in order to nurture the child’s imagination and learning.
An Associate degree in Early Childhood Education is an effective stepping-stone leading to a wider scope in the field of education. Normally, this is an extensive program that will lead to a broad range of career options and advancement after graduation. Approximately, two years are required to complete an AOS degree in Early Childhood Education. This degree provides all the necessary training you would require for teaching young children. It includes functional knowledge and understanding of early childhood education through the completion of courses covering curriculum, child development, child center administration, health and safety, and related fields. A general knowledge of science, social science and language arts is generally part of the curriculum as well.
There are a number of career options available to graduates with an Early Childhood Education degree. You can be an elementary school teacher, pre-school teacher, a school counselor or administrator. This will also prepare you to work in areas such as education policy or advocacy. As an educator you can find employment in nursery or elementary schools, as specialists for children with disabilities or learning disorders, as program supervisors and directors in schools and as family childcare home providers.
Equipped with a childhood education degree, you will be ready to invest your life in the future generation. You’ll find educating children, molding and shaping their lives, challenging them for the life ahead, an extremely rewarding experience!


This concurrent multiple methods study was to inform the work at Ontario Christian School (OCS) related to student-led conferences in grades K-3rd during the 2009-2010 school year. OCS elementary parent perceptions were explored regarding the benefits, if any, of student-led conferences in addition to how, if at all, student-led conferences have influenced parent awareness of K-3rd student academic performance, communication between parents and students in regards to school, parental expectations and parenting style, as well as their influence on student motivation and accountability. Participating parents completed a quantitative survey and a qualitative questionnaire.
Five main findings resulted. First, the parents at OCS deemed student-led conferences as a beneficial practice at the school. Second, the number one perceived benefit was an increase in student self-pride and parents perceiving student-led conferences as helping students understand their academic achievements and the importance of self-evaluation. Third, student-led conferences resulted in academic discussions regarding school and they had a positive effect on parental expectations and parenting style. Fourth, parents at OCS viewed excitement and motivation as synonymous and this resulted in an extraordinary amount of student pride which increased student leadership skills and had a positive effect on their achievement and performance. Finally, the student pride gained was a key element that influenced student academic performance, motivation and achievement. Three conclusions were drawn from this study. 1. Student-led conferences provide greater opportunity for three-way communication among students, parents, and teachers around students' learning and achievement 2. Student-led conferences are means for OCS parents to take a more active role in their children's learning process and consequently parents are more likely to understand the academic needs of their children, what to expect academically, and how to support their learning 3. Student-led conferences hold students more accountable for their learning which results in increased student motivation, responsible behavior, and greater pride in accomplishment. Recommendations resulting from the study were to expand student-led conferences school wide, periodically evaluate their process, engage in grade level collaboration on the implementation process, evaluate academic data across the grade levels to ensure success, and strategically plan for future improvement.
|Commitee:||Barner, Robert, Millsbuffehr, Joan|
|School Location:||United States -- California|
|Source:||DAI-A 72/07, Dissertation Abstracts International|
|Subjects:||Educational evaluation, Communication, Elementary education|
|Keywords:||Parent conferencing, School-parent communication, Student-led conferencing|
Copyright in each Dissertation and Thesis is retained by the author. All Rights Reserved
The supplemental file or files you are about to download were provided to ProQuest by the author as part of a
dissertation or thesis. The supplemental files are provided "AS IS" without warranty. ProQuest is not responsible for the
content, format or impact on the supplemental file(s) on our system. in some cases, the file type may be unknown or
may be a .exe file. We recommend caution as you open such files.
Copyright of the original materials contained in the supplemental file is retained by the author and your access to the
supplemental files is subject to the ProQuest Terms and Conditions of use.
Depending on the size of the file(s) you are downloading, the system may take some time to download them. Please be


To satisfy elementary teacher requirements, you will need to enroll and complete at least a bachelor's degree in education. Some universities offer on-line courses, whole programs, or night school if you have a full-time job in another field and want to earn one of the elementary education degrees. Each state has different requirements for teaching certificates, and the university usually follows the guidelines for the state where they are located. For example, if you go to a Missouri university such as Central Missouri State University, you will take courses and complete student teaching hours to fulfill Missouri teacher certificate requirements. To teach in Illinois or Iowa, you might have to take other college courses and apply for a teaching certificate in that state to meet elementary teacher requirements. You will take several general education courses during your freshman and sophomore years of college to get your elementary education degree. As you progress through your program, your classes will become more specialized and focus on teaching methods, philosophy, and student developmental information.
Observation Hours and Student Teaching
While college students are earning their elementary education degrees, they will be expected to do observation or practicum hours in a classroom before student teaching. Most universities expect you to do some hours in a younger grade such as kindergarten or first and then some observation hours in an upper elementary classroom. Even if you know you want to teach a certain grade, your college program should expose you to as much real-world experience in different grades as possible to meet elementary teaching requirements. During the practicum hours, you are usually keeping a journal about your experience and observations. You also assist the teacher in any way that she asks. Some teachers will ask you to work one-on-one with students and read aloud to the class as well as grade papers, take students to special classes such as PE, and do recess duty.
Student teaching offers you great experience in an elementary classroom while finishing elementary education degrees. During your student teaching, you can also finish building your portfolio, or samples of your work as an elementary education teacher. An example of a teacher portfolio might include photos of you working with students and your bulletin board displays, a statement about your philosophy of education and classroom management ideas, sample lesson plans, and examples of student work.
During your first few weeks of student teaching, you are getting to know the students, your cooperating teacher, and the school where you are working. One by one, you take over teaching the subjects in the elementary classroom, until you are teaching the entire day. Your cooperating teacher will observe you and give you tips and suggestions, but she will also leave you in the classroom on your own to deal with presenting your lesson plans, managing student behavior, and organizing your classroom. You will also work with a professor from your university, who will evaluate you throughout your student teaching experience and get you ready to meet elementary teaching requirements.


Why should you start a new guitar player on a ukulele? The answer is G, C, A, E. Yes, having four strings on a ukulele can lead to a faster learning progression because the beginning player has less to worry about. Another major positive about starting on a ukulele is the C chord. A new player can learn the C chord in less than a minute. All they need is one finger willing to move where they want it to go and they can start playing a chord right away. If you have been a guitar player for years, you can forget how hard it was to get those fingers on the right strings in the right frets. Just think of the D chord on a guitar. There is not another time in your life you would have your fingers sitting in that position. The uke still has tough chords that take your fingers way out of their comfort zone, but it has so many chords that beginners can learn four or five chords by the second lesson. I have taught guitar off and on for 15 years and, about 4 years ago, I decided to have any student who approached me start on a ukulele. We would spend 6-12 months with the uke and then move up to the guitar. The transitions from uke to guitar have gone smoothly. We spend time learning the new chord names and we add a two octave scale to the mix. Most of the students are playing the guitar almost as well as they were the ukulele in just about 6 weeks. The two extra strings and larger neck are daunting for about half a lesson. Once they realize that many of the chord formations they have learned on the ukulele can be used on the guitar, they almost start teaching themselves at that point. The best thing about this whole process is that by the time the transition happens, the student now loves two instruments–the guitar and the ukulele. Once my students make a solid transition to the guitar, I allow them to bring either instrument to our lessons.
We have had most of our schools in the area move from recorder to ukulele. We have middle schools and high schools offering ukulele as an elective class. It is great to see this awesome evolution of public school music education. I met with one of the high school music teachers after she had been teaching ukulele for a year. She asked if I could help with her next level ukulele class. I advised that she not offer a next level ukulele class but instead suggested she offer a guitar class, with the requirement that you pass the ukulele class first. Now she has a robust ukulele class because so many people want in the guitar class. She has introduced two new instruments into her school and the students are loving it.
So, there are a few arguments for my ukulele before guitar theory. Maybe you think I’m totally crazy. Whatever method you or your family/friends choose to learn an instrument is totally up to you; just make sure it is fun and that the student has the motivation to practice as much as possible. The more they practice, the longer they’ll stick with it and eventually become a lifelong player.
Please send comments or questions to email@example.com


Below are programs we use to help children who struggle in the foundation skills in reading and comprehension:
Developing Metacognitive Skills is a program designed by the Neuhaus Education Center which builds the foundational skills for comprehension and incorporates research-based strategies that simulate what good readers do before, while, and after they read. Metacognition is the act of “thinking about thinking.” Developing Metacognitive Skills provides group 30 to 45-minute lessons and activities for developing vocabulary and metacognitive skills to reinforce decoding and fluency. The curriculum is taught at three different levels:
- Listening Comprehension
- Transitional Metacognition
- Guided Metacognition
Source: Neuhaus Education Center
REWARDS: (Reading Excellence: Word Attack & Rate Development Strategies)
This program uses research-validated strategies across all content areas to take middle and high school students closer to grade-level expectations. The intense intervention approach ensures students make gains in less time, and the scaffolded instructional approach (“I do, we do, you do”) moves students from guided to independent learning. REWARDS develops strong foundational skills for improved test taking.
REWARDS strategies help students determine the pronunciation of difficult words, vocabulary meanings and use of background knowledge. Literal and inferential comprehension questions are used during student reading to build overall comprehension and vocabulary. Repeated readings are used in REWARDS to build fluency; strategies for answering multiple choice questions and short answers commonly found on assignments and test are practiced. Strategies for writing summaries and extending responses to writing prompt are done at the end of each application lesson to build students’ confidence in their reading and writing abilities.
REWARDS Writing teaches critical writing skills, including sentence fluency, word choice, and sentence revising strategies while giving valuable practice in writing.
Source: Cambrium Learning
Just Words by Wilson provides a curriculum for the study of word structure through the six syllable types in English and the most common Latin roots.
It is a highly explicit, multi-sensory decoding and spelling program for students in grades 4 -12 and adults who do not require intensive intervention but do require explicit decoding and spelling instruction due to word-level deficits.
Just Words is based on the research validated Wilson Reading System and moves at an accelerated pace by focusing primarily on the concentrated study of word structure for reading and spelling.
Source: Wilson Language Training Corp.
Evan Moor Reading Comprehension follows a research-based model that supports and supplements the core language arts curriculum; predictable visual format and opportunities for daily strategy and skill practice help to facilitate optimal learning through deep practice. The explicit instruction and error monitoring allow for easy and effective differentiated instruction. The materials provided allow for necessary practice for students to integrate discrete skills into a more automatic understanding of how to comprehend what they read.
The program divides the task of reading comprehension into six main metacognitive strategies that are supported by the National Reading Panel: Making connections to personal experiences, visualization of what the student is reading, organizing of the text pattern, determination of important information, asking questions before, during and after reading, and monitoring comprehension. From metacognitive strategies, it is further divided into 11 specific skills established in reading research: Main Idea and Details, Sequence, Cause and Effect, Fact and Opinion, Compare and Contrast, Making Inferences & Prediction, Character Setting, Fantasy vs. Reality, Author’s Purpose, Nonfiction Text Features and Visual Information.
Source: Evan Moor http://www.evan-moor.com/
S.P.I.R.E. is a comprehensive and multi-sensory reading intervention program. It is designed to prevent reading failure and to build reading success through an intensive, structured, and spiraling curriculum. It integrates phonological awareness, phonics, handwriting, fluency, vocabulary, spelling, and comprehension in a 10-step lesson plan that is specifically designed for the way struggling readers learn.


The BASIS Charter School Curriculum is comprised of courses in language and literacy, math, civics, history, science, and physical education/martial arts. Our enrichment curriculum includes courses in engineering & technology, fine arts (visual arts, performing arts, and music), and Mandarin. Students in grades 1–3 take integrated, 85-minute blocks of content, supplemented by their enrichment courses. These courses are the same in each of the primary years, so that important skills and concepts can be revisited in increasing complexity and detail. “Mastery of the basics” is a key component of the BASIS Charter School Curriculum, and early consistency is critical. Additionally, students take an interdisciplinary course called Connections weekly.
BASIS Charter School students are co-taught by two caring faculty members. The first is a Subject Expert Teacher (SET), who uses their deep knowledge of that discipline to design and teach their own lesson plans. The second is a Learning Expert Teacher (LET), who focuses on effective pedagogy, travels from class to class each day with their cohort of students, and co-teaches with each SET. This model is implemented in the primary grades based on school maturity and needs.
The role of the LET is to make sure that students understand what they are being taught, and that every individual student is working to the absolute best of his/her personal abilities. The LET provides a high level of individualized progress-monitoring. This unique level of student-teacher engagement allows teachers to quickly identify students who are struggling, assist them in getting the extra support they may need, and prevent them from falling behind. It also builds a relationship based on mutual respect, trust, and understanding. Importantly, LETs communicate with parents regularly to discuss progress.
The synergy of the SET and LET facilitates a relatively rapid transition from instruction in foundational skills and knowledge to independent thinking and active learning in the primary grades. These teachers work together to help students make interdisciplinary connections through the reiteration of key concepts across the curriculum. This fosters the progression from acquisition to application of knowledge, and prepares students for the challenges and opportunities of the 4-12 program in BASIS Charter School Curriculum.


Education is one of the most valuable building blocks for long-term success. There’s a reason why the timeless adage, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” is so commonly spoken. From exploratory early childhood learning centres, to specialized doctorate programs – the quest for knowledge is one that society universally recognizes as noble.
Additionally, state of the art technologies have revolutionized the way we learn in the classroom setting. Educational software tools have expanded the world of teaching for educators and enriched the learning experience for students in a variety of ways.
In fact, it is none other than tech giant Microsoft that is transforming the manner that we interact with curriculums and how they are delivered through Office 365 Education.
Here are all of the ways that Microsoft is becoming a major player in the world of education:
Microsoft Facilitates Education
Office 365 Education is primarily focused on facilitating the teacher/student exchange. The helpful learning tools found in Office aim to cultivate more inclusive classrooms through:
- Real-time working: Collaborative co-authoring and typing is made possible in all Office 2016 and Office Online documents.
- Multiple Spaces to Connect: Whether you’re looking to work together in a collaborative area or provide/receive individual support in a private space, Office has you covered.
- Unlimited Access: Time and location are no longer a limiting factor as you can access your documents via Office Online and Office Mobile through cell-phone and tablet compatible Word, PowerPoint, and Excel programs.
- Integrated Workflow: Assignment workflow can be integrated with Classroom.
- Streamlined Notes: All class materials can be organized in OneNote.
- Time Saving Benefits: If there’s one thing teachers could always use more of, it’s time. Through Microsoft Classroom, teachers can post class calendars, conversations, notebooks, curriculum data, and more, so that students can easily find information without having to contact them.
Microsoft Prepares Students for Collaborative Careers
The days of solely relying on pen and paper for note-taking and completing homework are far over. In the last decade, classrooms have embraced the digital realm. With this dramatic shift, Microsoft has innovated software that fosters the imperative collaborative nature of the classroom in online platforms. The following are some of the top ways that Microsoft Office 365 prepares students for collaborative career paths:
- Most In-Demand Software Skill: Looking to pad your resume? According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), Office is the only software listed as a top employer requirement for high-paying jobs.
- Powerful Intelligent Features: Not only focused on providing a platform for students and teachers to work together and communicate effectively, Office 365 is heavily focused on helping to sharpen skills. With powerful intelligent features that help scholarly minds fine-tune their data analysis, presenting, and writing skills, Office 365 shapes students into formidable job candidates.
How Ingram Micro Can Help
At Ingram Micro, we’re committed to ensuring that the businesses we work with fully maximize the value of the technology that they make, sell or use. With Office 365, our clients have been able to experience education in a phenomenal way.
Furthermore, students and teachers are eligible for Office 365 Education, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and additional classroom tools for free! Drop us a line today to learn more about how you can encourage collaboration and facilitate learning at the highest level in your classroom!
Visit the Microsoft Showcase site for more info.


To assist secondary teachers as they support and encourage their adolescent readers, the AARI has assembled a list of links and resources. This list will be updated throughout the four-year initiative. Please note AARI does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.
- Canadian Literacy and Learning Network: Canadian Literacy and Learning Network is the national hub for research, information and knowledge exchange, increasing literacies and essential skills across Canada. CLLN, a non-profit charitable organization, represents literacy coalitions, organizations and individuals in every province and territory in Canada. This website provides links to reports and information on literacy, with a focus on adult literacy.
- ABC Life Literacy Canada: ABC Life Literacy Canada is a non-profit organization that inspires Canadians to increase their literacy skills. This website provides links to information on literacy with a focus on adult literacy, family literacy, workplace literacy, and financial literacy.
- What Works Clearinghouse – Institute of Educational Sciences: As an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) was created in 2002 to be a central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education. This website contains information on a variety of educational practices, including adolescent literacy.
- Educational Resources Information Center: ERIC - the Education Resources Information Center - is an online digital library of education research and information. ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. ERIC provides ready access to education literature to support the use of educational research and information to improve practice in learning, teaching, educational decision-making, and research.
- ILA (International Literacy Association): ILA has been a nonprofit, global network of individuals and institutions committed to worldwide literacy. More than 70,000 members strong, the Association supports literacy professionals through a wide range of resources, advocacy efforts, volunteerism, and professional development activities. Membership is required for access to certain information on this website.
- International Literacy Association's field-leading journals: Freely available, online-only publication of the International Literacy Association (ILA), a professional organization of literacy educators. Its focus is literacy practice and research in classrooms serving students aged 5 to 18.
- NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English): An American Professional Association of Educators in English Studies, Literacy, and Language Arts. It provides information targeted for elementary, middle, and secondary school, as well as college. It also provides links to resources, professional development, and constituent groups.
- ReadWriteThink: ReadWriteThink is produced by the International Reading Association and provides links for classroom resources, professional development, and parent & afterschool resources. Teachers can explore resources by grade on this site.
- AdLit – All About Adolescent Literacy: This website provides resources for parents and educators of children in grades 4-12. It includes research and reports, classroom strategies, and professional development sections. It also contains video/ multimedia and webcasts.
- Florida Center for Reading Research: This site provides links to publications, lists ongoing research projects, and provides links for instructional materials for teachers up to grade 5.
- Collaborative Center Of Literacy Development - Kentucky: This site provides links to publications, and information on early childhood, elementary, secondary, and adult literacy. It includes literacy assessment tools, research briefs, and podcasts.
- Think Literacy – Ontario Ministry of Education: This site is governed by the Ontario Ministry of Education and provides links for students, parents, teachers, and administrators. It includes publications, a list of ‘popular topics,’ and a variety of links to various topics and information relevant to literacy.


children globally not achieving literacy and numeracy proficiency
We believe education is a fundamental right of every global citizen and the foundation to an equitable society. Teachers on Wheels is dedicated to help people of all ages from low socio economic regions to gain prosperous lives through quality education and skills training.
children worldwide live in Central or Southern Asia
of worldwide children who can’t read proficiently live in Central or Southern Asia
of poor children in India do not go to school
What we do
Making education accessible to all
Teachers on Wheels is a nonprofit charitable organization serving communities in the United States, Australia and Southern Asia
We believe that improving literacy and numeracy levels in children and adults is fundamental to a better quality of life.
We work in partnership with local leaders to identify the communities that need our services the most.
We plan to launch our first Teachers on Wheels mobile classroom to support rural areas around 60 miles (100 kms) from Bangalore, India.
Our mobile classrooms will travel to remote villages where access to education is often limited and illiteracy levels are high.
Meet a student
Over 70% of people in the developing countries live in the rural regions. Everyday people are moving away from the farms looking for jobs in cities often with no educational background.
Ram moved from Northern India looking for a job in India’s Silicon Valley, Bangalore. He found a job as a cleaner in a restaurant for an exchange of free boarding and lodging. Teachers on Wheels, India was able to offer regular evening classes through the local teachers’ network to improve his literacy and numeracy skills with the goal of providing Ram the foundation for a future career.
Join us and help people like Ram to take the next step in their life’s journey for only $30 a month for our teachers to provide 3 hours of one-to-one coaching and skills training a week.
I thought I made a mistake by moving to a big city from my village in Bihar. I was put in contact with this NGO who found me a job as a cleaner in a restaurant. Today I am a trained cook with a secure job and more confident to face the world.
My husband was an Auto Rickshaw driver, he was the only source of income for my family. I can boldly say that the financial support and ongoing visits by the Teachers on Wheels staffs was the reason for turning my family situation around.
A recently widowed Jayanthi was forced to take up a home based business in sewing and catering service to support her school going children.
Teachers on Wheels, India was able to connect Jayanthi with skilled people to help her establish the business and provide ongoing training on business skills.
Losing his father, at a very young age, the twelve year old Abdul was forced to take up his father’s job as a vegetable hawker. He had to support his four younger sisters and an uneducated mother.
The evening mentoring program by Teachers on Wheels, India taught Abdul the importance of numeracy and literacy to help managing purchases and understand cash flow for his business.
Teachers on Wheels helped me with the basic reading, writing and math skills. I am able negotiate with wholesalers and sustain the business after two challenging years.