….New initiatives result of feedback at two-day INSPIRE 2014 conference… WINCHESTER, MA – November 4, 2014 -- The National Institute for Student-Centered Education (NISCE) today announced that, based on feedback from its INSPIRE 2014 conference, it will expand and enhance its mission-driven programs with a clearer emphasis on practical applications and approaches to student-centered education, and enhancing its focus and strategies to respond to educators’ concerns about the efficacy and … [Read more...]
Introducing Zentangles
The following article is contributed by Penny Cunninggim, co-founder of NEARI. Peggy will also be speaking at our INSPIRE 2014 conference.A teacher recently told me about this wonderful multipurpose activity for creating structured patterns that she used as part of student journaling: it is called zentangles. The website she found is: What Do We Do All Day. This activity blew me away. Thank you, Liz!I think this is the perfect, light, enjoyable, and easy yet creative technique to … [Read more...]
Mindfulness in the 4th Grade Classroom
Contributed by Kate Clark. Kate is an elementary school principal on the North Shore of Massachusetts, and has used mindfulness practice in a variety of classroom situations over the course of her 30-year career as an educator. Kate will be a speaker at INSPIRE 2014, and her session is titled Theory into Practice: Preventative Strategies for Students with Anxiety.Fifteen quiet minutes...time for our fourth grade students to breathe, to hold off on all thoughts of the future or the past. … [Read more...]
Flying Below the Teachers’ ADHD Radar Screen
The following blog post is contributed by Dr. Anthony Rao a nationally known expert in child psychology, and author of The Way of Boys. Dr. Rao will be a speaker at the INSPIRE 2014 Conference in October 2014.Getting noticed or standing out is usually a good thing, but not for American boys in school. Their diagnoses for ADHD continue to be too high. What drives this? In my practice, it seems to be coming from teachers. They don't realize it, but over the last few years they have been … [Read more...]
Standards, Not Standardization
The following post was contributed by Diana Laufenberg, and originally posted on Living the Dream, in December 2013. Diana is one of the Keynote speakers at INSPIRE 2014: Engaging Today's Students. I said this phrase, standards not standardization, in a conversation with the ever thoughtful, Jose Vilson… and he has brought it up with me a few times … which makes me think that I need to write through my thoughts on this and will then be leading a conversation on this same topic … [Read more...]
Three Ways Educators Can Support Girls
Contributed by Dr. Rachel Kramer* Research shows that there is a strong link between a girls socio-emotional competence and their chance of success and performance in learning, and educators must equip themselves with methods that they can employ in the classroom to encourage and support this type of development in girls. The following are strategies that can be employed now by educators to support girls: 1. Build a sense of self-efficacy, encourage problem … [Read more...]
NISCE To Host Its Second Annual Conference on Student-Centered Education
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE INSPIRE 2014: Engaging Today's Student WINCHESTER, MA, April 10, 2014—The National Institute for Student-Centered Education (NISCE) will host its second annual conference, INSPIRE 2014: Engaging Today's Student on October 22 and 23, 2014 in Norwood, MA at the Sheraton Four Points. The two-day conference of workshops, lectures and presentations is designed to bring together the latest thinking on the challenges and benefits of adopting student-centered learning … [Read more...]
Being Careful About What We Say
I imagine we may have a few differences when it comes to what we believe is appropriate communication with our students. For me, the goal is to increase communication and deepen relationships with students rather than increase distance between us and strengthen our negative assumptions about them. Lastly, and most importantly, we want students to love coming to our classes, to feel relaxed and comfortable in our presence, to feel safe enough to ask spontaneous questions, to take risks and to … [Read more...]
Teaching to Different Learning Styles When it Feels too Hard
Two years ago I talked about using Learning Styles in the Classroom. Since then, I have worked with many teachers who agree that teaching to varied styles is critical but wonder how to do it well when they don't have many resources, administrators don't think it is important, they worry the class will get out of control, and they have so many students they can't meet all their different needs. These are legitimate concerns that, if left unanswered, might prevent some teachers from promoting this … [Read more...]
Promoting Behavioral Change in Students
When I work with teachers and other professionals, they often ask me, "What are the best things to do to deal with a particularly difficult student who just won't respond to limits?" I tell them there isn't a simple answer. They say they know, but they still ask. I wish there were a magic intervention for each difficult child, something that works in this moment. But in my experience there is no one sentence you can say, or consequence you can set, that will solve a chronic behavioral problem … [Read more...]