teachable moments Archives - Page 33 of 45

Apr 09 2019

What Empathy Teaches Us About Families

I recently met with a group of parents to discuss how we can increase our children’s awareness and empathy for others. Through our sharing, we learned that:

Having experienced a disability or learning challenge has helped others better understand what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes with a disability and experience empathy.
Empathy can be learned when we overcame adversity or a negative experience. When we are rescued by others, we may not learn to overcome a challenge.
When family members provide healthy support and not rescue their children, the children must learn how to resolve a challenge. This reflective process can help children learn compassion, empathy, and how to successfully solve daily challenges with others.

[Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.

Mar 12 2019

How You Can Support Your Children’s Project Homework

Teachers must evaluate what types of homework assignments will best support students’ learning outside of the classroom. Typically, many teachers assign homework that includes the following reading comprehension and reflection activities:

Math review worksheets and flash cards
Social studies, history, and civics research topics
Science experiments that can be performed at home
Field trips to local sites of historical and/or current significance with comprehension questions

Types of Projects

Although the homework plan may assume scheduled activity throughout the week, most children cram homework activity into an already hectic weekly school schedule. A new approach to homework is engaging students and their families in longer term project-based learning activities. The purpose of these homework projects is to help families integrate educational family activities into their daily lives. Activities can encompass Common Core State Standards and STEAM concepts in a relaxed and flexible home environment. When play becomes learning, your children can complete homework assignments with more enthusiasm. They will learn critical thinking skills while integrating grade-level Common Core State Standards and STEAM activities into their daily lives. A sample reflective homework worksheet is included below. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Mar 05 2019

What Is Your Child Learning in Kindergarten?

Each spring, parents and families are encouraged to visit their children’s schools to learn more about what their children are learning. Some parents are excited that their children are learning to read and compute basic math problems. Others are excited that their child has a new friend and is learning to express himself in an illustrated picture with a sentence describing the picture. I am excited that my grandson is learning to understand the individual differences of his classmates while naturally exploring how to read sight words and counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. His teacher also incorporates a variety of personal growth and study skill development activities during the school day. [Read more…]

Joyce Iwasaki, Early Parenting

Joyce Iwasaki has over thirty years of educational experience working with diverse students in grades from preschool through high school. Joyce’s extensive background includes teaching elementary school, serving on early childhood advisory boards, and advocating for educational initiatives as a legislative aide. During her tenure as a legislative aide, she helped create legislation that allowed incarcerated mothers to keep their newborn babies with them while in prison. Additional legislation was enacted to allow incarcerated pregnant mothers to remain unshackled during labor and delivery. Ms. Iwasaki established and served as the president of an educational scholarship foundation for fifteen years. Her foundation awarded college scholarships to emerging student leaders who provided service to their schools and communities. Joyce is active in performing arts and cultural organizations. She also provides ongoing support to her daughter and family by raising her grandson in her home.

Feb 13 2019

Cómo Podemos Apoyar el éxito Escolar de Nuestros Hijos

Cómo Podemos Apoyar el éxito Escolar de Nuestros Hijos

En esta época del año, nos sentimos abrumados por los ocupados horarios escolares de nuestros hijos y las crecientes demandas de proyectos de tareas. Por ejemplo, nuestros hijos deben completar trabajos de investigación, problemas complejos de matemáticas y proyectos de la feria de ciencias. A continuación se resumen diez estrategias efectivas para ayudarle a equilibrar la vida diaria de sus hijos: [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Feb 12 2019

How We Can Support Our Children’s School Success

At this time of year, we become overwhelmed with our children’s busy school schedules and the increasing demands for homework projects. For example, our children must complete research writing assignments, complex math problems, and science fair projects. Summarized below are ten effective strategies for helping you balance your children’s daily lives:

Teach your children how to be responsible.
Nurture independence.
Model resilience and conflict resolution.
Guide your children’s spiritual and moral development.
Schedule physical fitness and enrichment activities.
Encourage healthy eating habits.
Manage allowances.
Support career exploration.
Organize family activities, play dates, sporting events, and vacations.
Convene family meetings.

[Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert