teachable moments Archives - Page 36 of 45

Nov 20 2018

How Our Children Can Support Diverse Cultures

In this season of Thanksgiving, many of us meet with friends and family to celebrate our blessings. When reflecting on our culturally diverse friendships, the GenParenting bloggers have previously published blogs on how we can raise culturally sensitive children by modeling acceptance, sharing interests, participating in interfaith events, and partnering in community services and school activities. We have shared thoughtful experiences of how our children have shared their American culture with children from other countries. And we have celebrated various heritages at diversity events per the calendar of events at www.diversitycentral.com. [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.

Nov 06 2018

How to Help Kids Schedule Due Dates for School Projects

Kids live so much in the present that it is difficult for them to understand what it means for a project to be due in a month. Until they get the hang of it, kids would benefit from charting out their assignments on a calendar. Here’s a quick tip: [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Discovering the joy of teaching while in high school, Jaime pursued her B.A. in English at Santa Clara University. She also received a teaching credential and a M.A. in Education Administration from Santa Clara University. Jaime taught English Language Arts at Rancho Middle School, motivating and inspiring young people to become effective communicators and contributors in their community. From being a Middle School English Language Arts/English Language Development teacher to becoming a stay-at home mom, Jaime is an education consultant who presents literacy workshops. Her workshops focus on a combination of her ten years of teaching expertise with tried-and-true experiences that she uses with her own children. Jaime is also a Teacher Consultant with the San Jose Area Writing Project. Jaime’s mission is to share effective reading and writing strategies with families to encourage literacy.

Oct 16 2018

Developing Healthy Homework Habits

Ah, the age-old struggle between parents and their children to do homework! Why is it that kids fight tooth and nail to get their homework done? How can you help them take ownership of their homework? The struggle is real! Try some of these tips for helping your kids get in the habit of doing their homework: [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Oct 02 2018

How to Support Children When Parents and Family Members Have Different Values

As an educator and grandma of an elementary school grandson, I find that I have different approaches to watching and educating my grandson. I have reached out to other educators on how to reconcile these differences when helping my grandson with his school work and during our afterschool play sessions. Ten tips for success include the following: [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.

Sep 25 2018

When Your College Child Comes Home for a Visit

After attending summer school at the university, my son was able to come home for a few days to visit us and his friends. I continue to be impressed with the impact that college and living independently has had on my son. Some outcomes include:

My son is growing up and learning how to become a member of a larger community.
He is very grateful in how we raised him.
EJ is learning how to give back to others.
His living situation is very healthy and supportive.
EJ is living in a school sponsored co-op housing with older students. This provides him with an expanded support system of mentors.
Each co-op member must contribute to the upkeep of the house. My son is learning new house management skills.

[Read more…]

Yvette King-Berg, College Readiness

Yvette King-Berg, is the Executive Director of Youth Policy Institute’s Charter Schools. She was the former California Charter Schools Association Vice-President of School Development and Outreach-Southern California. Ms. King-Berg has over thirty years of experience working with teachers, students, parents, and organizations in a variety of positions including Director, Assistant Director, Curriculum Advisor, Bilingual, and Title 1 Coordinators, classroom teacher (K-12) in Pasadena and LAUSD. She has been married for twenty-three years, and is the proud mother of her son, EJ, who attends UC Berkeley.