Resources · 10-03-2017
What does it mean when a child says he is bored in school? Learn the causes of classroom boredom.
Resources · 09-14-2017
During parent/teacher open house night, build parent enthusiasm with highlights of the year ahead.
Resources · 09-07-2017
A positive learning environment is a productive learning environment. Strategies to use to create a positive learning environment.
Activities · 12-23-2016
Whether you like white or multicolored Christmas lights, both look magical when viewed with Holiday Specs. These holographic lenses are a “surprise for your eyes” because they transform Christmas lights into holiday images such as stars, candy canes, angels, and snowmen. Our pair of Holiday Specs enables us to see snowflakes on every bulb of our Christmas tree turning it into a snowy kaleidoscope of Christmas. The beauty of these twinkling snowflake lights inspired me to create the...
Activities · 12-09-2016
As King Moonracer tells Rudolph in the classic Christmas special, “A toy is never truly happy until it is loved by a child.” Classic toys, like Lego, inspire creative play and have been loved for generations. Other toys, such as Beanie Babies, achieve fad-like status only to fade away in popularity. Regardless of how long a toy remains popular, marketing is a key part of a toy’s success. How would you market your favorite toy? Sixty-two classic toys have been inducted into the National...
Activities · 11-02-2016
With trick-or-treaters still categorizing Halloween candy, it is a good time to introduce students to Carl Linnaeus. He liked putting things into categories too – especially plants and animals. In the wonderful children’s book, The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus, Jen Bryant describes Carl Linnaeus as a man who “put the names of animals and plants in categories, and that made nature much easier to study.” His classification system has seven levels, and each animal on the planet can...
Resources · 08-13-2013
A few years ago, I asked a group of gifted and talented fifth grade students to respond to the following question, “What could teachers do to make school more interesting?” They were passionate about answering the question. Sometimes in the conversation about educational policy, we overlook the student perspective. I've provided a sampling of their responses and clarified educational terms within parentheses. Don’t limit our imaginations. Don’t waste as much of our time. I don’t like...