ASP Faculty

A NYT article about a man who is a mime named Tim Chartier, whose day job is associate professor in the department of mathematics and computer science at Davidson College in North Carolina. The plunger skit and many others that he and his wife, Tanya, have developed are part of their Mime-matics business. Having learned from the master of the craft, Marcel Marceau, they use their skills in mime to teach mathematics in a decidedly unconventional way.

Commentary We need better teachers. It's a mantra in education reform circles. And as Congress gears up to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, last rewritten in 2001 as the No Child Left Behind Act, the refrain will only grow louder.

Spotlight on Aligning Curriculum and Technology This Spotlight explores how districts are using technology to improve student learning, introducing games into classrooms, and using multimedia resources across the subject areas. Spotlight on Algebra As more American students are being encouraged to take introductory algebra in 8th grade, efforts to support algebra instruction are examined.

Just two days after announcing her run for president, Hillary Clinton visited Kirkwood Community College in Monticello, Iowa-a school that has a strong partnership with K-12 schools, enabling students to earn college credit while still enrolled in high school.

Our class will be going to the Intrepid in May for our field trip so this has been a great site for me to revisit. This site also serves to wet the appetite for the kids for the trip and I am able to discuss the expectations we have for them. The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City is the only museum where visitors can experience the legendary aircraft carrier Intrepid, the first space shuttle Enterprise, a Cold War-era submarine Growler, a British Airways Concorde, and the world's fastest jets.

I used this song in my Literature class the other day! It's super catchy, and the kids loved it. They asked to watch it again, and even sang along. This woman has a whole bunch of really excellent grammar songs to spice an everyday lesson. 

I can't wait to use this resource! This bookmark allows students to organize their thoughts for discussion, and forces them to be conscious of their reading. They can come up with their own questions, or make them up based on the lesson. Not too bad for a dollar!

I recently signed up for a free trial of this site. It has some really great videos for all subject areas! The kids found them informative and entertaining because of the little cartoon graphics. Now to cancel before they charge me $50! 

This is the math place to go when teaching Geometry to the younger grades. Draw an angle,measure it. All on the screen.

My dream? In a perfect world, every 3rd and 4th grader would go here every day for 10 minutes. When you get to grade 5, everything would be easy.

Although this article was printed on April 12, 2012, it raises some amazingly valid research points in favor of the necessity of Cursive Handwriting Instruction in schools in spite of the increase in key-boarding. I feel the most impressive points are Indiana Univ. Karin Harmin-James's MRI brain-scans of children and Neuroscientist Norman Doidge's book which discusses how the brain changes and develops neuropathways in relation to habit changes and repeated actions. Further, Doidge's research describes how handwriting and keyboarding require different actions and affect the brain in different ways.

Please support our school's Flower and Herb sale by visiting our school's official Facebook link and like us too!

This describes some of the characteristics that make great teachers, like passion, understanding, and a sense of humor.

Further to my last post, please see another more recent article of June 2, 2014 printed in the Science Section of The New York Times asking the question, "Does handwriting matter?" Please note the interesting points raised here as well as the further coverage of psychologist Karin Harmin-James's 2012 Study on children's brain scans and their handwriting...

I teach the 5-finger prayer, and love the other suggestions mentioned in this article.

Here are a few cute recess games for the younger grades to try.

We need some new ideas. Let's try one or two of these

Voyages in English online resources are designed to help you in your planning and instruction. Find out more about this writing and grammar program for Grades 3-8. This is the link for games using our Language Arts Textbook.

Teaching kindness in school has many benefits, such as improving health and self esteem, and increasing feelings of gratitude.

An interesting video from TedTalks regarding the power of student driven learning...

The autism rates have increased dramatically over the past 20 years. If not vaccines, then what is the cause of autism?