"The Dyslexic Reading Teacher Sean Taylor"
Literacy for me was almost an unrealized unattainable dream! As a dyslexic learner I was unable to read, write, or decode words as a child, p,d,b and q were all the same letter. Many classroom teachers assumed I would never read or write due to the severity of my dyslexia and this made me feel worthless. I am a dyslexic reading teacher that has built a reputation for finding innovative ways "FREE" to teach reading to all students!
Harry Potter Reading Activities: Teaching Emotional Intelligence and Character
The Harry Potter series is an amazing piece of literature that teaches students a love of reading, yet also teaches emotional intelligence! The characters compelling stories of courage, honor, perseverance, and sacrifice give students a chance to be all those things. The Brothers Grimm fairy tales and Aesop’s fables taught countless generations of children characters and morals using morality tales. Today we need literature that treats kids as smart intelligent beings that flourish when exposed to insightful complex literature. Morality, sacrifice, empathy, and honesty are just a few themes that kids discover in the pages of Harry Potter. Harry Potter can be a roadmap for children to an emotionally intelligent adulthood. My class discusses and ruminates on the many themes that present themselves as we read the Harry Potter series, and students have so many insightful moments when they relate funny, poignant, scary moments to personal experience.
Idesa for Using Harry Potter in the Classroom to Teach Emotional Intelligence
Compare and Contrast Character Traits: Harry Potter vs. Hermione...
Make a list of what makes a character evil or good
Create your own Harry Potter chapter story using a classic morality theme
Harry Potter is not about witchcraft and wizardry as some opponents have argued, the books are about friendship and growing up. We should count ourselves fortunate and blessed when all generations learn the skills of caring, empathy, sacrifice, acceptance, and honor. If you have not read Harry Potter or you have not visited the books in a few years its time to rethink all the wonderful teachable moments that the series provides.Sean Taylor The Reading Sage
Google’s 80/20 Rule for Educators, Students, and Teaching! Genius Hour gives students a chance to follow their passions, dreams, and interest, giving students the freedom to learn, discover, and explore on their own terms. I provide a minimum of one hour per week to pursue a self-directed intrinsic interest for all of my students.
I have actually used the 80-20 approach in my classroom for the past four years. For one marking period (the length of our environmental unit) students do the normal classwork/activities on Monday through Thursday. Every Friday however, the students work on a project of their choosing within the realm of environmental science. The outcome has been nothing short of amazing. Students are excited about learning during this time. As part of the project, there needs to be some service learning component. I've had students write and read children's books to daycares, present at township meetings, re-design oil tankers to lessen the amount of oil that will spill during an accident etc. It is by far the best thing I have ever done in my classroom. I would love to expand it to another marking period by our curriculum is so full because of standardized testing that unfortunately I don't have time to. If you ever have the chance to do it, I would highly suggest it. Geniuse hour teacher
“GOOGLE engineers are encouraged to take 20 percent of their time to work on something company-related that interests them personally. This means that if you have a great idea, you always have time to run with it.” New York Times
Imagine giving students 20% of their instructional day to whatever fascinates them personally; will they build a passion for learning? Google uses the 80/20 rule for building loyalty, creating a culture of innovation, cultivating ideas, and acknowledging the creativity and productivity of working on self-guided passions.
The 80/20 Rule can be used as the foundation of a flipped classroom, front-loaded instruction 20%, and student work/collaboration 80%.
Food For Thought
The Pareto principle or 80–20 rule:
80% of students success comes from 20% of instruction and studying
80% of students academic knowledge comes from 20% of the time spent on academic learning
80% of lessons are unproductive (meeting the needs of all students) 20% of lessons are productive
80% of students need differentiation (pacing, higher or lower level) 20% of students are on instructional level
80% of classroom behavior problems come from 20% of students (academic and social and emotional)
[PDF]Genius Hour Rubric - Structured LearningMaterials. • Backchannel device. • Library, Media center, digital research device. • Grit rubric. • Six strategies to find your passion handout. • Genius Hour.
[PDF]Genius Hour - It's Totally Worth It!Also called 20% Time or Passion Projects, Genius Hour stem from a practice at Google. Employees were allowed to use 20% of their work week to explore ...
[PDF]Genius Hour Semester Project Guidelines - engagecobbGenius Hour is a concept based off of time offered to employees at companies such ... _______Put yourGenius Hour Semester Project onto your online portfolio.
[DOC]Genius Hour-proposal.docxGenius Hour Name: Proposal. What is the question that is driving your research? (What do you want to learn, make, create, test, change etc.?) Why did you ...About 23,100,000 results (0.40 seconds)
[PDF]genius hour - WordPress.comGenius Hour. Creative. ▷ Project based. ▷ Passion-based. ▷ Active. ▷ Pursue interests. Collaborative. ▷ Students can work in groups. ▷ Share and help one.
[PDF]Genius HourWhat is Genius Hour? Sometimes called “Passion Projects” or “20% Projects”. Originated at Google, where employees dedicate 20% of their time to developing ...
[PDF]Genius Hour- handout 2016This year we will be participating Passion Projects or Genius Hour, as part of our Language Arts curriculum. You will get to explore your own passions by ...
[DOC]Genius Hour Unit PlanTitle of Project: Genius Hour Project. Subject(s): Gifted – Topics will be student selected. Grade Level(s): 5 (Can be used with any grade levels 3-12). Abstract:.
[PDF]Genius HourGenius Hour. Students Need To: Get the project approved by the teacher. Research their project. Present and share what they have learned. Let the. Passion .
Wiki Article
The Pareto principle (also known as the 80–20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
Business-management consultant Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population; he developed the principle by observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas.[2]It is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., "80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients". Mathematically, where something is shared among a sufficiently large set of participants, there must be a number k between 50 and 100 such that "k% is taken by (100 − k)% of the participants". The number k may vary from 50 (in the case of equal distribution, i.e. 100% of the population have equal shares) to nearly 100 (when a tiny number of participants account for almost all of the resource). There is nothing special about the number 80% mathematically, but many real systems have k somewhere around this region of intermediate imbalance in distribution.[3]The Pareto principle is only tangentially related to Pareto efficiency, which was also introduced by the same economist. Pareto developed both concepts in the context of the distribution of income and wealth among the population Wiki
MCAS Reading, ELA, Math, Science, History released test | MCAS practice test Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, MCAS reading, math, history and science practice test Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Use the MCAS Tests below to prepare for the math, reading and science 2012-2013 MCAS assessment. The MCAS reading, math and science are standardized tests given to students in Massachusetts grades 3-8. Beyond grade 8, take the End of Course Tests for students in grades 9 to 12.
The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, commonly shortened to MCAS is the Commonwealth's statewide standards-based assessment program developed in 1993, in response to the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of the same year. State and federal law mandates that all students who are enrolled in the tested grades and who are educated with Massachusetts public funds participate in MCAS testing.
MCAS has three primary purposes:
To inform and improve curriculum and instruction.
To evaluate student, school, and district performance according to Massachusetts Curriculum Framework content standards and Performance Standards.
To determine student eligibility for the Competency Determination requirement in order to award high school diplomas.
MCAS RELEASED TEST
Free Printable Reading Comprehension Worksheets/Workbooks with Multiple Choice Questions
High Frequency Standardized Testing Vocabulary
This is a list of No Excuses Testing Vocabulary for the 3rd , 4th , 5th and 6th Grade. The Testing Vocabulary is the Tier 2 Academic Vocabulary for Reading and ELA Testing, it does not contain the Tier 3 Testing Vocabulary. You will also need to study the Tier 3 Academic Testing Vocabulary for thorough test prep. Students with developing reading skills or second language learners may need extra instruction to gain the full meaning of these words.
Most of the Common Core assessments follow the standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). State that have high standards based on the NCTM and NCTE will find the Common Core very familiar.
The Common Core Standards will be implemented fully in 2014-2015 in 47 states. The Standards are 1.5 standard deviations above today’s mean. Publishers (Harcourt Educational Measurement, CTB McGraw-Hill, Riverside Publishing (a Houghton Mifflin company), and NCS Pearson) and software developers (NWEA MAP) are writing and developing criterion/standards based assessments that meet the new higher standards. Teachers need to have access to assessments that give a baseline of skills and ability to meet these higher standards TODAY! The best free resource for teachers to do test prep and asses student readiness are the TAKS and CRCT released test. Teachers may want to use the grade higher to make sure they are evaluating student readiness.
PARCC Prototype Test Items for Common Core Assessments | PARCC Assessments Released Items | PARCC Released test sample ELA Grade 3, 6, 7, 10 | PARCC Released test sample MATH Grade 3, 4, 6, 7, High School
Sample of State assessments that are similar to the Common Core Standards
Grade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 MCAS ELA Reading & Math Test Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System
MCAS ELA Reading & Math Test Release of Spring 2015-2016 Test Items
Flipped Teaching and project-based learning using the Common Core State Standards!
Is a flipped class and projects based learning possible in today’s publisher-driven, top-down curriculum model and austere school reform mentality we find ourselves working in? Giving teachers and students the voice to use the power of curiosity to make real academic choices, teacher-student selected curriculum, flipping a class, and or using project-based learning. Today classrooms are hindered with such severe cutbacks that many are closer to daycare than centers of innovative learning. Teachers are on the front lines of education and need support to do what is in the best interest of the child’s learning, not focused on test-taking ability.
Students in Finland have consistently ranked at the Top in Math and Science achievement! Why, because teachers focus on educational equity (student outcomes as related to learning), not ranking, labeling, accountability or competition! Finland amazingly rejected the "Accountability Movement" 20 years ago and decided to develop a teacher-student centered learning model. They do not administer standardized or criterion-referenced test! Teachers are free to make students learning the priority!
Texas administered the new STAAR test this summer, with standards that are similar to the CCSS, and guess what, TEST scores plummeted. Higher standards do not improve teacher or student outcomes. Most of the newly published CCSS materials that I have read are really just reshuffled old materials disguised as new and innovative. Schools will spend millions and millions getting ready to realign curriculum with the CCSS, and what we really need to do is realign our philosophy. Empower teachers and create an innovative nurturing learning environment for both the teacher and the student.When do we honor teachers and treat them as intelligent professionals?
The Common Core Standards are adding even higher expectations to today's stretched students and teachers, that of course means testing expectations are unreachable/unmeetable/unteachable, in many of today’s austere classrooms. My schools started this year with 32 full-day kindergartners in each class with no aide! That is austere!
This year districts and schools will start choosing the best from the worst published curriculum that supposedly meets the CCSS because we don't trust our teachers to develop their own innovative amazing curriculum. Finnish teachers collaborate daily from 1:30-3:00 to develop a teacher-made curriculum and work with colleagues to meet the needs of all student. Project-based learning and a flipped classrooms are possible if we give teachers the power to make real decisions (picking what published program your school will use doesn't count) and the control!
Ideas to help keep the learning flowing and the innovative classroom alive:
Team Teaching
Students as teachers or peer teachers
Intermediate classrooms adopt a primary classroom
More flexibility in school schedules!!!! (Why we run schools today on military schedules is beyond me)
In this paper, we present Team-Based Learning (TBL) as one way to effectively structure a flipped classroom environment. Traditionally, teachers are responsible ... 9 pages
Project-based learning (PBL) is also a student-centred teaching method that aims to cultivate student teamwork, interdisciplinary skills, critical thinking, ... 18 pages
Flipped Classroom Explained: wiki
Flip teaching is a form of blended learning which encompasses any use of Internet technology to leverage the learning in a classroom, so a teacher can spend more time interacting with students instead of lecturing. This is most commonly being done using teacher-created videos that students view outside of class time. It is also known as backwards classroom, reverse instruction and reverse teaching.
The traditional pattern of secondary education has been to have classroom lectures, in which the teacher explains a topic, followed by homework, in which the student does exercises. In flip teaching, the student first studies the topic by himself, typically using video lessons created by the instructor or shared by another educator, such as those provided by the Khan Academy. In the classroom, the pupil then tries to apply the knowledge by solving problems and doing practical work. The role of the classroom teacher is then to tutor the student when they become stuck, rather than to impart the initial lesson. This allows time inside the class to be used for additional learning-based activities, including use of differentiated instruction and project-based learning.
Flip teaching allows more hands-on time with the instructor guiding the students, allowing them to assist the students when they are assimilating information and creating new ideas (upper end of Bloom's Taxonomy).
Project-Based Learning: Explained
Project-based learning, or PBL, is the use of in-depth and rigorous classroom projects to facilitate learning and assess student competence (not to be confused with problem-based learning). Project Based Learning was promoted by the Buck Institute for Education in the late 1990s, in response to school reform efforts of that time. Project-based learning is an instructional method that provides students with complex tasks based on challenging questions or problems that involve the students' problem solving, decision making, investigative skills, and reflection that includes teacher facilitation, but not direction. PBL is focused on questions that drive students to encounter the central concepts and principles of a subject hands-on. Students form their own investigation of a guiding question, allowing students to develop valuable research skills as students engage in design, problem-solving, decision making, and investigative activities. Through Project-based learning, students learn from these experiences and take them into account and apply them to the world outside their classroom. PBL is a different teaching technique that promotes and practices new learning habits, emphasizing creative thinking skills by allowing students to find that there are many ways to solve a problem.
Teaching Social Emotional Intelligence (SEL), Resilience, Values, Morals, and Character with Music | Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 | Values and Character | Emotional Intelligence Lessons Social-Emotional Intelligence is a bigger predictor of academic success due in part; students with high Social Emotional Intelligence adapt better to our high stress and high stakes classroom. Teaching students empathy, resiliency, compassion, humility, character, honor, duty, and civility is more important today with the changes to society. Character and values education starts in the home with parents and elders teaching them values. Students used to have this reinforced at school with daily scripture readings, morality "fairy" tales, and classic fables to educate the young about right and wrong. Young ones learned about the perils of lying, pride, anger, and selfishness vicariously and safely through the characters in the stories. I use music daily in addiction to fairytales and fables to build social-emotional intelligence.
Music is a powerful tool that evokes positive, inspirational, and even sympathetic emotions and impacts the perception of content. We know that adding or stimulating emotions stimulates learning and speeds retention and memory. Think of all the movies, plays, and concerts that have amazed and inspired you with music. Create a soundtrack for your daily classroom lessons and watch students emotional intelligence increases and learning ignites. Music can take the rote or mundane task that must be mastered and make them Epic in Importance with the right music!