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Index Cards

A List of Index Cards Games for Memorizating & Reinforcing Content

One of the most effective teaching strategy groups that is simple to implement involves inexpensive index cards. Whether students keep guided notes while they read text or keep a dictionary of new words in an index box, the following strategies offer ways to reinforce the content in an active manner.The basic principle of the index card strategy group is for students to write something down on an index card from their guided notes. Or, they can create a dictionary...

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Certified Coaches Can Help At-Risk or New Teachers

New York State’s teacher evaluation system has finally arrived and we all recognize that this is a time of transition and a time of opportunity. New York, like other states, is beginning to roll out assessments of teachers. Therefore, it is imperative for schools to consider on-going professional development where certified coaches can work individually and in small groups with new and at-risk teachers. Coaches can help your teachers deliver high-quality educational strategies that will increase their ranking.For over...

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Fraction Rings: Teaching Time, Decimals and Degrees

  (c) 1993 Fraction Rings designed by Andi Stix were produced by Cuisenaire Company of America. This set of math manipulative rings are to be used with Fraction Circles.  Order a set at: http://www.hand2mind.com/catalog/product?deptId=&prodId=020272&q=picture+grids           Andi Stix is an educational consultant & coach who specializes in differentiation, interactive learning, writing across the curriculum, classroom coaching, and gifted education. For further information on her specialties or social media, please email her on the Contact page.

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Kinds of Writing

 Do you want to spicen up the kinds of writing that you assign to your class? Do you want to give your students a list of choices from which they can choose? Here’s a fabulous list to get your juices flowing:A ads (for magazines, newspapers, yellow pages) advice columns allegories anecdotes announcements answers anthems appendices apologies assumptions autobiographies awardsB ballads beauty tips bedtime stories beginnings billboards bloopers blurbs books book jackets book reviews broadsheets brochures bulletins bumper stickersC calendar...

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Carousel Brainstorming

 The Carousel Brainstorming strategy is easy to implement. Each cooperative group walks up to an open-ended question posted on chart paper, discusses it, brainstorms answers or solutions, and writes down responses within a given amount of time. When the teacher “carousels” students, or rotates the groups to new locations, they repeat the exercise with a new question. This time students must read the responses from the previous group(s) before they begin to write down new ideas.MaterialsDifferent colored markersChart paperMasking tape (Tape chart...

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The Link Between Art and Mathematics

 There would seem to be an implausible relationship between art and mathematics.  After all, the two domains seem to depend on vastly different thinking patterns. We do not question the interrelationship between science and mathematics, and the scientific process is clearly contingent on mathematics.  How then did Ferguson (1977) manage to put together a historical review linking art and technology? Ferguson’s research indicates that inventors and art are more closely affiliated than either group would have us believe.Ferguson cites many examples...

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Creating Rubrics Through Negotiable Contracting and Assessment

 What would happen if students were invited to help decide how their work should be evaluated? Would they exploit the opportunity, designing standards so ridiculously low as to guarantee a glut of effortless good grades?Surprisingly, the answer is no. Experience in Mrs. Martha Polin's class at Robert Wagner Middle School in Manhattan shows that students who are given a role in the assessment process of a mural from a historical novel lesson can and do rise to the occasion....

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Literature Bookroom - Gtec Kids

Differentiating the Curriculum- How We Established a Multi-Level, Young Adult Literature Bookroom for the Social Studies Department

 Recently, the District #2 Office in New York City mandated that all children at the middle school level should read 25 books per year.  While the burden of this mandate fell most heavily on the shoulders of the Language Arts department, we at Robert Wagner Middle School in Manhattan began to discuss ways the social studies department could help to increase literacy, a goal important to all subject areas.  As we talked, we agreed that it was misguided to assume that the language...

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Benefit from rubrics

Students and Teachers Alike Can Benefit from Rubrics

 Joyce Kasman Valenza from The Philadelphia Inquirer Interviews Dr. Andi StixDid you ever wonder why your school paper got an 85 when Suzie’s got a 94? Did you ever ask your teacher exactly why? Was the answer a little vague? And did that grading process really help you understand how you might improve your work next time around? and benefit from rubrics?Five years ago, if you had asked me what a rubric was, I would have been puzzled. Now...

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The Art of Negotiable Contracting

 It may have the sound of being more than it really is, but negotiable contracting is indeed an art. While not immediately evident to the casual observer, it is practiced with a deftness and precision comparable to an artist applying a brushstroke to a canvas. We already know that students perform at higher levels if they have ownership of their work. But the finishing touch to this grand design is to create an atmosphere of achievement and accomplishment where...

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