Peggy's blog

October is here again, and in honor of this scary holiday season, I am posting my suggestions from last year with a few new additions to help you keep your classroom deliciously spooky this year.

Prime time shows were bumped (gasp!) this past week to make time for the national coverage of the first presidential debate for this election. Students who had the chance to see this formal debate on television might have come away with questions about the candidates’ political views and about the debate itself. If they followed the news or social media sites afterward, they have seen and heard opinions from all different sides of the issues. A presidential election year is the perfect time to harness the topic of debate and connect students’ lives to the political issues being argued.

Self-esteem is an essential quality of a successful student. A student without confidence in their own ability to learn will not learn to their full potential. A student without self-confidence can be an easy target for bullies and will seldom take risks reaching out socially or academically. Taking these types of chances gives students opportunities to grow, so this growth is limited in kids with a lower self-esteem.

By integrating ideas of acceptance, tolerance, and personal safety into our daily teaching, we can arm students with the confidence to learn anything. Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t--you’re usually right.” This week, I am looking at resources and activities that will help students think they can.

Maybe it was the growling of my stomach as I began writing this post. Maybe it was watching the 3 reams of paper go through the copy machine: worksheets destined for student desks, and ultimately, the trash. Either way, when I started researching creative methods for teaching students about continents, I looked for engaging and meaningful activities that would leave students with a lasting curiosity about how the earth came to look the way it looks today. Many students have learned about this topic on a very basic level, so I was looking for resources that would challenge students of all ages and skill levels to make learning connections with other subjects.

The beginning of the school year is filled with high hopes. Teachers have plans to teach their students everything they need to know for the year, and students are coming out of summer vacation rested and ready to learn. Parents are counting on schools to provide their kids the appropriate education for their grade. They are hoping their kids will be ready for next grade when it’s time to move on, and, more importantly, they want them to be fully prepared for college by the end of high school.

Many of our recent discussions on the Gateway have centered on a multi-disciplinary or “whole child” approach to teaching and learning. Resources that look at one topic through the lens of many different subject areas are very useful to elementary school teachers and to secondary teachers who are working with colleagues to unite learning across different subjects. Creating a successful set of lessons that stresses these connections is a time consuming process. Using quality online resources will allow you to spend your valuable time being a teacher and a mediator.

Philanthropy: a deliberate affection for mankind, shown in contributions of money, property, or work for the benefit of others

Modern cell phones are more than just devices for making and receiving phone calls. New smartphones are tiny computers designed for communication, organization, and entertainment. These newer phones include tools for taking and editing pictures and videos, sending texts and emails, streaming video, connecting to others through social networks, and so much more. With the release of new education apps every day, cell phones are beginning to edge their way in among high tech learning tools. The fact that so many students have access to cell phones (or other mobile devices like the iPod Touch or a tablet) leads many teachers to consider their use in the classroom.

Recent events in my life and around the world have reminded me of the important role teachers play in educating the “whole child.” The main academic subjects are very important, but a well-rounded person will need more than just those basics to succeed in life. We spend a lot of time discussing what to teach and how to teach it, but all this discussion can make it easy to lose track of our ultimate goal of molding successful, well-rounded, and happy humans.

Sometimes the simplest things make the most memorable lessons. You can find rocks just about anywhere, and most kids have collected them at one time or another. Careful examination, comparison, and classification are a big part of rock collecting. Kids who enjoy finding and sorting rocks will learn a lot about geology and earth science while doing something they enjoy.