Reading Buddies can improve reading fluency, decrease anxiety in reluctant or stressed readers, and add a bit of cuddly fun to reading, making it even more pleasurable than it usually is! A Reading Buddy can be another student, or, as I’m going to talk about here, a stuffed animal or
What’s your sentence? What is one sentence that would convey what you are all about? I loved this idea when I saw it in this video: It’s part of Dan Pink‘s work on motivation, which I love and speak about in my trainings on internal motivation. I started incorporating “What’s
Brainstorming with Microsoft’s SmartArt is an easy and free way to make brainstorming in class a breeze. Brainstorming is one of the most common classroom techniques, and Microsoft’s SmartArt can make it easier than you ever imagined. There’s no need to invest in graphic organizers when Microsoft’s SmartArt is there
Helping children appreciate and enjoy art doesn’t need to be daunting. Gifted children are often tuned in to the aesthetic nature of things and can easily become aficionados with very little encouragement. Both the Waldorf and Montessori methods are based in part on the idea that even very young children can
Brain breaks are wonderful, and they’re best when they’re quick and easy. Using nothing more than a handful of dice and a free printable, I’ve got 30 quick and easy brain breaks you can do with absolutely no prep. Why Use Brain Breaks? If you read what I wrote about
Practice can be fun using a simple practice cube. The theory behind it is simple: practice can become routine and mundane, and adding a little creativity to it can make all the difference in the world. Surprisingly, this simple cube can make even the most routine practice fun and kinesthetic.
Tech tools make learning {and lesson preparation} more fun, and often more interesting. Do you know these favorite tech tools of mine? 1. Classtools for QR Code Scavenger Hunts QR codes can be spectacularly fun in class, and Classtools has a particularly cool trick for teachers. Just type in a series
Give Kids Choice (Without the Chaos): A Simple Strategy That Works Want to know one secret to getting students more engaged in tasks? Give them a voice in what they do. We all value choice, and kids are no different. There’s even research about how autonomy is necessary for developing
Let’s be honest: working in groups is not typically a strength for gifted learners. That doesn’t mean that we just shrug our shoulders and say, “Oh, well I (or my child) just prefer to work alone.” That’s simply not practical in today’s cooperative learning and work environments. So how can we
I’m a fan of celebrating strengths, and I’d love to tell you why. I learned a lot about it from a shell. It may sound odd to take advice from a shell on celebrating strengths, yet one of the things that strikes me as a problem is the difficulty people
