Last night The King’s Speech was the big winner at the 2011 Academy Awards. If you’re unfamiliar with the film, it is the story of King George VI and his struggles with a severe stammer, which haunted him through childhood and threatened to paralyze his ability to rule the British Empire after he assumed the throne in 1936.
One couldn’t expect to be king and avoid all instances of public speaking–especially during this period, in which the advent of the radio was changing the way the world communicated.
George was able to triumph over his disability, and his story reminded me that to communicate clearly is something we all yearn for. It’s a struggle that many of us, along with the students we serve, grapple with– whether it be challenges related to literacy, grammar, language, pronunciation, or speech. Read more »
So here are some resources to round out your weekend–links to a few articles that gave us a new perspective on some pressing topics:
Children Are Coming to School Hungry: A national survey of 638 public teachers shows that many students are coming to school without getting a good breakfast at home–and it’s affecting how well they can focus and learn in the classroom.
Last week Imagine Learning sponsored a free webinar on implementing effective Response to Intervention frameworks. The webinar shared tips for using all three tiers of intervention to boost student progress. If you missed the webinar, you can watch the archived version to find out how three principals are making RTI work for their schools.
In conjunction with the webinar, Imagine Learning created an infographic—a visual guide to RTI success at each tier of intervention. We’re excited to share this infographic with you. To embed it on your own website, blog, or newsletter, simply copy and paste the code below. There are two versions of the graphic—one larger, one smaller. The smaller version functions best as a widget.
While learning seems to come naturally to some students, others struggle and need a spark or a jump-start. To make sure all students are engaged in learning, many schools are now turning to unusual ways to reach their students and are experiencing some very positive results! Here are a few examples:
Service dogs
Service and facility dogs can provide valuable learning opportunities. Specially trained dogs can teach students how to overcome fears, learn patience and perseverance, and listen to and follow directions. Children with special needs especially benefit from working with service dogs when they brush the dog, take it for walks, and play fetch. These activities help develop gross motor skills and reduce stress. If a child finds social interaction to be a struggle, having a dog as a buddy can be very calming.
Having a classroom canine mascot can also spark students’ interest in math (measuring out dog food) and writing (using the dog as the subject of a paper).
Infants
A Canadian non-profit group has an interesting strategy to reduce bullying. How does it work?
“If we learned how to walk and talk the way we are taught how to read and write, everybody would limp and stutter.” — Mark Twain
If you’ve ever met children who are naturally expressive, you’ve probably listened to them easily talk about their lives, share their opinions, and tell their favorite stories.
But if you’ve ever asked children to write down the thoughts they just shared with you, you may have noticed something strange: a pencil and a sheet of paper can cause even the most naturally expressive children to freeze up or close off.
Why does writing affect so many children (and adults) like this? I believe it is because many of us take the writing process too seriously. It’s as if the words we write are forever chiseled in stone the moment the lead or ink hits the paper.
Last night The King’s Speech was the big winner at the 2011 Academy Awards. If you’re unfamiliar with the film, it is the story of King George VI and his struggles with a severe stammer, which haunted him through childhood and threatened to paralyze his ability to rule the British Empire after he assumed the throne in 1936.
