Sunday, August 24, 2014

Day 3 #30dayblogchallenge: The First Big Idea for Effective Teaching

For the third day of the 30 Day Blog Challenge, I'm going to review the first big idea from Wilson and Conyers book, Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching.


The first big idea relates to the implications of neural plasticity for learning and teaching. Scientists used to believe that intelligence is fixed, however advances in brain research have proven quite the opposite. This is a concept that both excites and fascinates me because it can be a life changer. Wilson and Conyers cite many studies to support the concept of brain plasticity and its implications and applications to the classroom.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

How Do I Explain My Strategies?


The new school year begins in my new district on Monday. I'm thinking about all the metacognitive skills I teach my students and how to go about sharing brain-based strategies with those who inquire. The easiest way would be to direct them to the book, Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching: Connecting Mind, Brain, and Education Research to Classroom Practice by Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers. Wilson and Conyers used several of their BrainSMART graduates as examples of research in action. I'm one of the graduates they used and as a result I, along with other graduates, are referred to throughout the book. Sometimes I find it difficult to articulate exactly what I do in the classroom that is different because brain-based strategies and reasoning permeate everything I do. When I first read the Five Big Ideas I exclaimed, "This is it! This explains it perfectly!"

One thing I love about the book is that it is well researched, yet still an easy and engaging read (at just under 200 pages). That said, I want to touch on the Five Big Ideas over the next few days to give readers an idea of the rich content available in the book. Maybe this will assist me in articulating the range and reasoning of what I do in my classroom. Stay tuned!


Monday, August 18, 2014

Day 1 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge: Number Talks

Post updated 08/24/2014

I'm joining the 30 day blog challenge. I've needed the motivation! Today I want to put one of my goals for this school year out there. This way all my friends can help hold me accountable! One of my goals is to fine tune my Number Talks.

What is a Number Talk? 

Number Talks are a fantastic way to increase your students flexibility with numbers. You may think you do number talks already...that's what I thought too. Then I was shown a video of Sherry Parrish (author of Number Talks) demonstrating it. I was blown away. It's mental math on steroids in only 10 minutes! My kids absolutely loved it.