Susan Fitzell-Educational Consultant & Speaker
Practical Strategies to Get High Test Scores Now!
Visual
This educational video set has earned high praise for it’s ability to blend an irreverent sense of humor with an “educational assisting program designed to beef up students’ language skills before taking the SAT test.” ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Auditory
Who hasn’t had a song stuck in their head, at one time or another? Using the naturally catchy nature of tunes to have your students leaving your classes humming the answers to next weeks test seems to sell itself. The following are a couple of links that offer educational songs for download. There are songs for all grade levels as well as subjects.
SongsForTeaching.com
Kinesthetic
The following was an idea suggested to me by Megan Taylor of Ozark, MO, as a method for getting physical learners to take hold of abstract ideas. kinesthetic spelling: Use your body as the letters on the line. For example: “Political” – P-stand, o-sit, l-stand, i-sit, t-stand, i-sit, c-sit, a-sit, l-stand. When an entire class spells out a word and performs this, it also adds a visual and auditory dimension to the idea.
Your Own Wiki Pages
Apologies for my absence, I like to update weekly but I’ve been so busy. The fortunate side of this is I now have loads to share! Specifically, I have this book that was recommended to me by a teacher at a recent seminar.
“THE BIG FOUR”
Jane E. Pollock’s “Improving Student Learning: One Teacher at a Time” builds off of the old saying, “When reading, think like a writer. And when writing, think like a reader.” by applying it to the Teacher/Student relationship.
Pollock offers a structure she calls “The Big Four” to build a learning program that is centered around student achievements.
1. Clearly articulated curriculum, benchmarks, and learning targets
2. Purposeful instructional planning and delivery
3. Purposeful and varied assessment, tied to learning targets
4. Record-keeping and reporting that allow for timely and meaningful feedback that is based on specific criteria
This user friendly book has lots to offer teachers working to differentiate curriculum based on research based best practice. I hope you enjoy the book and feel free to let me know what you think!
