Posts Tagged ‘learning’
How to Communicate with Parents
The Value of Take-Home-Journals Keeping parents up to date on what is going on in the classroom is imperative as a teacher. My most successful communication method in my third grade classroom, was the Take- Home-Journal. I wanted parents to know what was happening but it needed to be personal and give my students writing practice.…
Read MoreThe Power of Memorization in Teaching
You are braver than you believe, Stronger than you seem and Smarter than you think. A. A. Milne (Author of Winnie-the -Pooh) Children thrive on inspiration. Actually, everyone is touched by words, good or bad. Think about your own experiences and how words have affected your direction in life. I remember when I was going…
Read MoreKingdom of Gallon – Learning Liquid Measurement
The Kingdom of Gallon is one of the most popular sections in my best-selling book Memory Tips for Math. The reason it’s so popular is because parents and teachers find it is the best mnemonic for learning liquid measurement. It uses a story method and the student draws the components while listening to the story.…
Read MoreShort-cut Subtraction for Problems with Zeroes
Don’t you just hate trying to subtract 99 from a number like 4000? And teaching it is even more difficult. You find you have to regroup several times. Here is an easy way that I never knew about growing up. Say you have a problem like the ones below. Here’s the secret. If you rewrite the problem…
Read MoreMemorization Stimulates Learning
Memorization Stimulates Learning Kids are relying on Google as their memory. Not a good idea! The brain needs to be taught to memorize, by using memory exercises, and learning to memorize poetry and math facts. Memory is important in building relationships, establishing recognition of patterns, people and events. Then the brain transforms this information to…
Read MoreTravel Memory Game
On a long car ride, parents dread hearing “Are we there yet?” Or the kids are glued to cartoons on their iPhones or devices. Learning is no where to be found and communication is dead. I’ve found this Travel Memory Game to be a fun answer to this problem. It’s challenging for any age and…
Read MoreGraph Paper Math
Today, I decided to share the many uses for graph paper in teaching math. It’s a unique and effective tool for making learning math much easier. Children have a difficult time lining up numbers when they work out math problems. Graph paper solves that problem and makes doing math problems more understandable. The most important…
Read MoreMemorizing Inspiring Thoughts
Here’s an idea to spark some interesting dinner-time table-talk and memorize inspiring thoughts. I collect and memorize quotations. To me it’s like having a mini-library of inspiration in your head and being able topull out some words of wisdom at the right moment. It’s really not that difficult, especially if it becomes a family affair.…
Read MoreMemorizing – Trains the Brain to Retain
This title reminds me of a line from a song in My Fair Lady, “The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.” We may not know any other lines in the song, but we remember that one because it’s a type of mnemonic – a rhyme. Something is happening in our educational system and…
Read MoreA New Look at Learning
I remember Goldie Hawn from the 70’s as the ditzy blonde comedian who made us laugh. I recently saw her on TV talking about The Hawn Foundation and how it’s promoting a program in the schools called “MindUP“. In my opinion, MindUP is a solid answer to many of our students’ problems. Watch this video…
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