Kick Start INFERENCE!
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

also on Schoology Group "Teacher's Tools" 

Code 8M5SS-DVGCZIdeas for Classroom Use

Inductive - inferring unknown generalizations from information or observations
• Focus on specific pieces of information or observations
• Assume – do not!
• Patterns and Connections – look deeply
• Statement – describe what you deduce
• Extend – observe/test to determine if generalizations hold up
Ask students
• What do you see? What are the details?
• What does the information tell you?
• What conclusion can you reach based on this?
Deductive – identify specific example to support a general statement, rule or principle
• Identify the generalizations, conditions or reasons
• If the conditions are in place, identify the things that must be true based on the generalization
Ask students
• Identify the examples or reasons for your prediction
• What conditions make this inevitable?

Extending Thinking Strategies: Student Learning Through Thinking and Writing, Learning Focused Solutions, 2009. Print. Used with permission.

Kick Start Your School Year HOT!

Kick Start Your School Year HOT! 

also on Schoology Group Teacher's Tools 

Code 8M5SS-DVGCZ

Higher Order Thinking Strategies and Processes

Ideas for Classroom Use

1.    Myth or Fact – Design statements related to the thinking strategy and have students respond as to whether they consider the statement to be a fact of a myth and explain why.

2.    Concept Card Mapping – Provide key words related to the thinking strategy on cards (or paper which students cut up to create their own cards). After arranging cards to show how they think the terms are connected, students glue them down, add lines and descriptions on the lines to show relationships and connections.

3.    Step by Step – Present a simple task such as compare and contrast two movies.  Have students list the step they would use to complete the tasks, rather then complete the task itself.

4.    Quick Write – Have students do a quick write to describe three components of using a strategy effectively.  What is it? Why is it used? How is it used?

5.    Frayer – Students provide examples, non-examples, describe the importance, and describe the meaning of the thinking strategy in a Frayer graphic organizer

Higher Order Thinking: Increasing the Rigor of Learning Focused Lessons. Boone: Learning Focused Solutions, 2013. Print. Used with permission.

The Link Between Early Trauma and Lifelong Illness

From The Atlantic, May 2017
Link to the short animated video

Over the past decade, new research has revealed the link between early trauma and lifelong mental health issues. These discoveries have since revolutionized social work, healthcare, and early education. Policy changes enacted in response to our understanding of the biology of trauma are prioritizing earlier interventions like nurse home visiting services for at-risk families, and an increase in pre-kindergarten programs.
This short animation by Nadja Oertelt is part of The Atlantic’s Next America: Early Childhood project, which is supported by grants from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Reading Rainbow Revisited

Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high.
Take a look, it's in a book, a Reading Rainbow!
I can go anywhere.
Friends to know,
and ways to grow.
A Reading Rainbow!
I can be anything.
Take a look,
it's in a book.
A Reading Rainbow.

Are you singing yet? This past week I heard LeVar Burton speak to an enthusiastic crowd of educators. He had us all singing! His message was simple: children must be read to, must see adults reading and must be challenged to read every day. His mother, an English teacher, read to him all the time. They discussed books, ideas and dreams.  He launched a Reading Rainbow and created "Skybrary, a carefully curated, ever expanding interactive library of digital books and video explorations designed to engage young readers and foster a love of learning."

Don't take my word for it!  - try it yourself on the Web, iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, and Android tablets! Link below and keep Literacy in your Life! 

Video Field Trips here! 

The End of the Year Snapshots

Teaching is Tiring from Trevor Muir

Teaching is Tiring (and worth it)! 

This will make you smile! Watch Trevor Muir tell us what we already know, and smile at the end of his message! 

Special Education Website Update IDEA

IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act -  New Website

According to Ed Weekly...

"Back in January, a technical glitch took down the website that hosted the text of the IDEA and other special education resources, prompting a wave of concern among some in the special education community and even some lawmakers. 

The disappearance of the website did not affect the 1975 law itself—the only entity that can make changes to the law is Congress. But the website's disappearance took on a symbolic importance after the Senate confirmation hearing of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. She was criticized by some disability advocates because of what they saw as her unfamiliarity with the civil rights law that covers more than 6 million students with disabilities ages ages 3-21."