How Sequential Spelling stacks-up to the different learning styles in our home.
… Sequential Spelling builds on bases or word families that use the same letter endings. The idea is get children to see patterns of spelling that exist in many words, from the very simple to the more complicated. For example, by introducing the word at a child should be able to spell bat, cat or scat, but will also quickly be able to draw on this knowledge to spell rattle and batteries.
However, what distinguishes Sequential Spelling the most to me is that children are given a test every day, as opposed to every week. The test isnt a real test in the traditional sense. Instead, tests are viewed as learning devices, not methods, for evaluation. If a child makes a mistake writing a word, they immediately correct their mistake right when they make it, not hours, days, or weeks later.
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Low GI diet bears fruit in classroom
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/low-gi-diet-bears-fruit-in-classroom-20120128-1qmzw.html#ixzz1l1xgVj1Q
Now an increasing body of research linking low GI and academic performance is prompting doctors to urge parents to consider changing their children's diets.
Alan Barclay, chief scientific officer at the Glycemic Index Foundation, a partnership between the University of Sydney and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said parents wanting to improve their childrens' school performance should give them a breakfast with about 35 to 40 grams of carbohydrate with a low GI.
"That should translate into improved performance in various tasks at school which ultimately should lead to better marks at the end of the year," Dr Barclay said.
"Glucose is the primary fuel for our brain. If we don't have enough in the right amounts over the right period of time we basically can't think properly and can't remember things."
Research by British academics published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2010 found a low GI/high carbohydrate breakfast improved the cognition and attentiveness of children and helped them complete maths tasks more quickly and accurately.
Amir said his his concentration levels had massively improved and he no longer felt tired during the day. He also lost about 15 kilograms in seven months.
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Brain scans bring researchers closer to early dyslexia diagnosis
Children with learning disabilities often find the first few years of school harrowing. But brain scans of
at-risk children may catch signs of dyslexia before problems emerge, a new study suggests.
Children at risk for dyslexia show differences in brain activity in MRIs as early as age 4 or 5, the study shows. The study was conducted by a team from Childrens Hospital Boston and was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week. Most children are not diagnosed untilabout third grade, but earlier treatment is usually more effective, researchers noted.
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Let students play with Vedic math
HYDERABAD: The biggest monsters are examinations and syllabus in an education system which promotes learning by rote, observes Dilip Mukerjea, a mind mapper. In the city for a session on learning better at BITS, Hyderabad, the author of a sizeable number of books on memory skills, he spoke of a roadmap for Indian students in a world of exponential competition.
Show me one system where students learn all the parameters of vocabulary and memory. Across the IITs and IIMs, all the institutes promote learning by rote, points out Dilip who runs Braindancing International in Singapore. The recently released Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report on performance of 73 countries ranked India second-last. There has to be a change in the curriculum as well as methods of teaching, opines the author of Unleashing Genius.
HYDERABAD: The biggest monsters are examinations and syllabus in an education system which promotes learning by rote, observes Dilip Mukerjea, a mind mapper. In the city for a session on learning better at BITS, Hyderabad, the author of a sizeable number of books on memory skills, he spoke of a roadmap for Indian students in a world of exponential competition.
Show me one system where students learn all the parameters of vocabulary and memory. Across the IITs and IIMs, all the institutes promote learning by rote, points out Dilip who runs Braindancing International in Singapore. The recently released Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report on performance of 73 countries ranked India second-last. There has to be a change in the curriculum as well as methods of teaching, opines the author of Unleashing Genius.
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Apple Reinvents Textbooks with iBooks 2 for iPad
NEW YORKJanuary 19, 2012Apple today announced iBooks 2 for iPad, featuring iBooks textbooks, an entirely new kind of textbook thats dynamic, engaging and truly interactive. iBooks textbooks offer iPad users gorgeous, fullscreen textbooks with interactive animations, diagrams, photos, videos, unrivaled navigation and much more. iBooks textbooks can be kept up to date, don't weigh down a backpack and never have to be returned. Leading education services companies including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill and Pearson will deliver educational titles on the iBookstore with most priced at $14.99 or less, and with the new iBooks Author, a free authoring tool available today, anyone with a Mac can create stunning iBooks textbooks.
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Trying Not To Smash The Tablets
… Early in the year, on a rare occasion when a student was using his tablet computer for non-academic purposes, I didnt even have to say anything, Werdesheim recalled. I just went over there and said, Sports, huh? And I took away the iPad and that was the end of it. No one wants their iPad taken away overnight.
Ohr Chadash is one of a handful of Jewish day schools throughout the United States that are pioneering the iPad this year. Only two years old, iPads are still a rarity in most schools, although growing numbers of public and private schools are beginning to experiment with them. And with Apples launch last Thursday of iBooks2 for distributing interactive, digital K-12 textbooks, the number of schools purchasing these devices is poised to grow dramatically.
…
Rabbi Eric Grossman, Frankels head of school, says the iPad has already proven successful in helping to mainstream learning disabled students, making it easier to offer individualized learning and to help kids with organizational difficulties keep track of their homework and other assignments.
Susan Stein, coordinator of general studies at Ramazs middle school learning center, echoed that assessment, noting that the iPad is a wonderful choice for some kids with learning challenges.
They dont lose their papers, they dont lose their notebooks, they dont have to carry heavy backpacks. It helps keep them focused and organized.
Poor readers can easily convert their reading material to large font, while others can listen to an audio download when they read, she says, adding that its handy to have everything all in one place.
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U46s chief of equity, social justice speaks about position
… These ideas are beginning to be translated into the field of teaching and learning. Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, universal design for learning asks, How can we design curriculum and classroom experiences that are as effective and inclusive as possible? she said.
When we do this in the design of our curriculum and how we design our classroom instruction, then we will serve the needs of more students and well see better results for everyone.
…
We dont have as many in our country examples of district-wide successes where this work is happening where the sheer commitment to equity is operationalized far and wide across the organization. In order to do this, we need to a have a bold, integrated and systemic approach to closing the achievement gap, Shah said.
Destination 2015 holds us accountable to be one of the districts that shows how to do this work of closing the achievement gap to scale.
… I became really intrigued by the idea that our schools are the places to build the society we want to create. Thats how the program was constructed around equity and social justice in teaching, she said.
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5 Things Parents Need to Know About Inclusive Education
… If you are a parent of a special needs child who is in an inclusive classroom or being considered for inclusive placement, this article will give you a brief overview of inclusive education and 5 things you need to know.
ALWAYS TOGETHER – A truly inclusive environment is one in which a special needs child is a fully active member of a general education classroom not just for PE, Art or Music but for all subjects. An inclusive school provides equal access to school routines and programs. Lunch and recess are together, students participate in assemblies and extracurricular activities are timed to include as many children and families as possible. Inclusion is a way of interacting with one another, not a place to go to for an hour every day.
ALWAYS PARTICIPATING – Inclusion promotes social interactions between students, teachers, parents and school. Relationships develop and are strengthened in an inclusive environment.
ALWAYS SUPPORTED – Support services for children with special needs are brought
to the child in the classroom through paraprofessionals and resource staff. Parents are also included in this process! Inclusive classroom teachers have a significant understanding of the various needs that students have and use resources, support staff and assistive technology to meet those needs.
ALWAYS LEARNING- Inclusion provides opportunity and equal access to schooling regardless of childs ability level. Inclusive practice benefits ALL learners in the classroom. It involves accommodating and modifying the curriculum to reach all learners. Students become more engaged, feel more successful and develop confidence in their ability to learn. Inclusion promotes a greater understanding of diversity and the world in which we live.
ALWAYS WELCOME children with special needs are welcomed in the inclusive school, regardless of ability, age and needs!
Tags: inclusive education
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Response to Intervention – Tiers without Tears
… Successful implementation of an RTI approach to helping students includes at least these three essential components:
- Multiple tiers of intervention (the most common number of tiers described in the literature is 3 but some models include 4 or more)
- A well-defined, step-by-step method of problem-solving and trouble-shooting to identify precisely where students are experiencing frustration and failure
- A procedure for collecting data that allows for prompt decision-making about what to do next to accelerate students' learning
… Multiple Tiers: A step-by-step approach to problem solving
Tier I Core instruction (80-100% of all students)
Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France 
