Minutes a Day—Mastery for a Lifetime!
Teachers who use our Simple Solutions books in the classroom are going to find a nice surprise when they open their digital teacher editions at the start of the school year. The new update makes these editions easier than ever! Everything that you love about the S²TaR Center (The Simple Solutions Tools and Resource Center) […]
There are many ways to define Information Literacy. It might best be viewed as the sum of some of its basic components: needing, gathering, evaluating, and using information. One dilemma facing teachers today is guiding students towards reputable, current, and authoritative sources with rich content. To label reporting “fake news” leaves students wondering how to […]
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No More “Summer Packets” All teachers are aware that summer learning loss is real. In fact, many teachers take a pro-active approach to curb that loss by creating summer reading lists or putting together “packets” of enrichment or reinforcement worksheets for kids to complete over the summer. All activities have the same goal: keep students […]
Galileo Happy 454th Birthday! I had such fun writing the Ben Franklin birthday blog, I thought I’d write about another scientist. I stumbled upon Galileo’s name in a novel I was reading, Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, in which two characters briefly discuss one of Galileo’s discoveries. “What I recall about this Galileo […]
Part 2: What’s the difference between distributed practice and retrieval practice? Like distributed practice, retrieval practice is a strategy. It involves getting students to remember (retrieve) what they’ve learned. Putting forth some effort and really thinking about a concept reinforces it and makes it easier to retrieve in the future. Think about the kinds of […]
Part 1: Distributed Practice Practice is Practice, Right? Not really. There are so many kinds of practice—massed practice, distributed practice, retrieval practice, and interleaved practice, to name a few. And, each corresponds to a specific educational goal. Let’s sort them out. Let’s start with distributed practice, also known as spaced learning, and sometimes, spiraling. It’s […]
The new year is a good time to start a new routine or tweak an old one. A friend and colleague has made a commitment to change her bedtime routine. She has been getting to bed at 10:00 each night to get the benefits of restorative sleep, and I applaud her efforts. I am trying […]
Open House: Nothing can bring such a mix of emotions to a teacher as those words… well, except conferences, but that will be the subject of a later blog post… As a teacher, Open House is so important. You have a short amount of time to accomplish a number of goals, all while looking […]
Spinning into Math Facts! Fidget Spinners- the new fad that had both teachers going dizzy over the classroom annoyance. The principal at the local STEM school posted his frustration about them on his personal Social Media page: “Word of warning to parents buying spinners for ‘concentration’, the spinner’s days are NUMBERED. I hope they run […]