All Blog Posts Tagged 'communication' (31)

Looking for classrooms from around the world to Skype chat (or even PenPal)

Hi,

We have a theme of communication this term, so I thought it would be great to try to chat to different classrooms around the world.

Is anyone interested?

It would be great for my students to be able to interact through skype or we could even start email or snail mail communication between students.

They would love to learn about where your class lives and chat about differences and similarites in their lives.

Even if we dont speak the same…

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Added by Tanya Blackie on October 7, 2013 at 7:30pm — No Comments

Talking stick to promote good listening skills

Has anyone any experience of using a talking stick in group discussions? I have read that this can be effective in designating who is able to address a group at a particular moment and as a way of ensuring that talking is shared equally amongst a group. I would be very interested to hear of any experiences of using a talking stick in adult classes. A desription of the idea is given here…

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Added by Jacqueline Thomas on January 7, 2013 at 11:14am — No Comments

Parent Night Activities: Getting Parents and Students Actively Involved

It's never too early in the year to begin thinking about Parent Night.

The thought of talking for an hour to a group of adults seems daunting. Even with children, I try to speak no more than five minutes before directing them to an activity that synthesizes what was shared.

I have parents and students do the talking. Here are some suggestions if you want to get parents and students more active in the process:

1. Have parents active from the…

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Added by Janet Abercrombie on September 16, 2011 at 2:30am — No Comments

"T - 2": Preparing for the Extra Duties

At "T minus 2", I begin sifting through the calendars and emails about upcoming meetings, lunch duty schedules, curriculum planning updates, and more.

As I enter dates into my plan book and Google calendar, I remember the year that I was a substitute teacher. I arrived at 7:30 and left at 3:30 with all papers graded, plans for the next day solidified, and specific anecdotal notes on the progress of each child. I often wondered, Why is it that, when I teach full time, I stay until… Continue

Added by Janet Abercrombie on August 28, 2011 at 4:00am — No Comments

6 Essential Elements to Get Your Idea Across – Part 1

I just started reading the book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath which is about why some ideas take off and others don’t. It’s actually blowing me away. The thought of making an idea stick is not just for advertising people but it should be on the minds of anyone trying to get a point across. For example if you are a teacher presenting to students or a student doing a presentation, an entrepreneur selling a new concept or trying to…

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Added by Sal P on April 7, 2011 at 11:39am — No Comments

7 videos that WILL ignite a discussion

One of the biggest reasons I enjoy using Twitter is it enables me to connect with educators from all around the world. Additionally, Twitter has proven to be an efficient and effective platform to discuss pressing educational issues. Unfortunately, most…

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Added by Justin Tarte on February 6, 2011 at 6:58am — No Comments

Leading by example...

A couple weeks I decided to do something most educators would never dream of doing. I gave all 140 of my German students the opportunity to assess me. I explained to my students that the assessment was 100% anonymous, and the most… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on February 2, 2011 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

6 Solutions to the Most Common Teacher Problems...

Last week we had our third professional development day at Seckman High School. As a PD representative, I had the opportunity to lead two PD sessions. The format of my sessions was to… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on January 31, 2011 at 6:11am — No Comments

5 Ways to Empower Your Students...

Here are 5 concrete examples of how I am empowering my German 2 and 3 students. I was inspired to write this post after reading a great post by Chris Wejr (… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on January 24, 2011 at 6:47am — 2 Comments

10 reasons to get educators blogging...

5 reasons educators should start reading blogs:

1) - Blogs are the heart of learning and sharing...

If you are an idea and inspiration junkie like myself, then you will find blogs to be extremely beneficial. Educators of all ages and backgrounds are bringing their ideas, reflections and experiences to one convenient location; their blog.… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:39am — 1 Comment

Trying to do what's best for kids...

I recently made some big changes in my German classes. I have been contemplating these changes for a while now, so please don't assume I made these changes without thoughtful consideration. My focus has transitioned to having my students show what they have learned, instead of simply assessing them on what they are willing to do. It bothers me when I see students who have a high level of content mastery, but yet have a low grade. Likewise, I see misrepresentation… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:36am — No Comments

The power of a comment...

I recently did a blog post titled, How do you Define Learning? This post centers around the struggles I am having this year as I move away from the traditional style of…

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Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:32am — 1 Comment

The School Family - Guest Blogger Tonya Thompson

Oh, Thanksgiving. Time for all those F’s we love: Food, football

and...family. Okay, some of those things we love more than others.

I have had many discussions over

the years with one of my fellow educators about people; people that we

enjoy and those we don’t. Recently, we… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on November 21, 2010 at 8:09pm — No Comments

A little help and support go a long way...

Several great and interesting things happened to me this week:

1) - On Wednesday I attended my 2nd #ecosys chat: If you have

never taken part in the #ecosys chat, I strongly urge you to check it

out. The #ecosys chat has a new topic every week similar to other

Twitter chats, however this chat centers around education reform and the

interconnectedness of society and its impact on education. As the… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on November 21, 2010 at 8:04pm — No Comments

5 ways to spread the power of Twitter as a PD tool...

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the EdcampKC technology conference in Kansas City, MO. This was my first

"unconference," which basically means the entire conference was

participant-driven and each session was presented by someone who was

actually attending the conference. There was a big board set up in the

main room, and before the conference officially started any person

interested in presenting was able to… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on November 9, 2010 at 7:13pm — No Comments

Skype 5.0

About Skype

Talk anywhere with Skype on your mobile

Skype is software that enables the world's conversations.…

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Added by Ian Hall on November 7, 2010 at 9:37pm — No Comments

The "real" stakeholders...students have voices too...

I experienced two very important things recently:

1) - If you ask, you shall receive...

Last week I asked 5 students to answer 5 questions related to

education. The questions have nothing to do with my class content, nor

will the students receive anything for completing the 5 questions. I

simply asked 5 of my students to give me their opinion and feedback on

certain education related issues. The… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 29, 2010 at 8:12pm — No Comments

Sometimes we all just need a little time...

This past week at school has been particularly busy, and unfortunately this means not getting to spend a lot of time with my two favorite

girls. Coming home from meetings, training sessions, and classes late

at night are all the perfect ingredients for an exhausted and mentally

drained educator. We all have experienced work weeks like this...work

weeks that never seem to end and never seem to give you a moments… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 17, 2010 at 1:58pm — No Comments

Criticism hurts...but how you deal with it is all that matters!

The path to growth and development can be ugly at times. Educators are part of a world that is continually changing and evolving, and as such

we are forced to take a leap, and at times take a leap when we are not

ready. Going through all my undergraduate classes at Mizzou we were

always told how rewarding and fantastic the field of education is, and

from where I sit right now I could not agree more. So...the big

question… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 10, 2010 at 8:05pm — No Comments

Never underestimate the power of a child...

I watched this video on TED: Ideas worth spreading (which I highly recommend) http://www.ted.com/,

and I have to say I was really intrigued by the topic. Every day at

school I get the opportunity to see students growing and

developing...some more than others, and some not enough. However

inconsistent their growth may be, one thing is for certain...the growth

and development of children can be summed up in one word - amazing! If

we… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on September 22, 2010 at 5:35am — No Comments