Exciting Learning

Boarding Schools: To Board Or Not To Board

October 15, 2013 • For Parents, Prep School Insight • 42034

“Why on earth would anyone send their kid away to boarding schools?!” is something I was asked many times during my career as a teacher at a prep school. Having lived in the boys dorm for nearly seven years, I could have given an array of answers to this question; however, I thought it my duty to remain diplomatic, so as not to offend the person asking the question, should they have a strong opinion one way or the other. My usual appropriately vague response was: “Some people feel it is a good opportunity for their child”. The truth is, there are numerous reasons why some parents or guardians send their children away to boarding school, and to go into each and every one would be a diatribe in and of itself. If you are a parent thinking of sending your child to a prep school, you may be facing the question yourself of whether or not to have your son or daughter board versus being a day student. Inevitably, you have read articles about this topic, or talked to friends about what they think. Living at a boarding school has many benefits, and depending on what sources you have read, benefits can range from a child having a sense of increased independence to thriving in a highly structured environment. Those are rather textbook answers, and the glossy promotional magazines schools put out do not always display or discuss the real benefits to living at a boarding school during adolescence. From the perspective of someone who lived the life for many years, here are three hidden benefits to consider when you are pondering “to board or not to board”.
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School Lockdowns: Lockdown Normalcy

October 12, 2013 • Education in the News, For Parents, For Teachers, Resources, Uncategorized • 14432

School Lockdowns, Lockdown Normalcy: Student safety in schools is not a new concern; however, due to increasingly violent and seemingly greater prevalence of serious incidents, school safety is on just about everyone’s radar, especially those of us with young children. We are now in an age of “lockdown normalcy”. Safety drills in school are commonplace and date back many years. Who doesn’t remember having fire drills in school, ensuring you walk out of the building in an orderly fashion (covering your ears, of course, to muffle the wailing alarm) to a pre-determined meeting place and wait for the “go ahead” to return to class? Most people don’t think twice about having fire drills, because of course, we want children and teachers to be prepared in the event of a fire. There is a sense of normalcy with fire drills, in that they are expected, routine and part of our American school culture. Continue Reading
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Columbus Day

October 11, 2013 • Education in the News • 11853

Columbus Day is not without controversy, and as teachers, we must think of how to present this holiday with balanced perspective but mindfully looking beyond the standard, basic overview given of the very complex historical figure for which the day is named. To focus solely on the standard, highly sanitized version of Columbus’ journey is ultimately doing a disservice to students by not teaching them to question beyond what they are told. Here, you will find some links to helpful sites covering the entire Columbus story, as well as information about its controversy.
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Social Studies Lesson Plans

October 10, 2013 • Lesson Plans • 15836

Creating your own lesson plans takes a lot of work but can be really fun at the same time! You can precisely cater lessons to meet the specific needs of your students, take their individual texts into consideration and add your own supplemental materials. Creating lessons is something in which you can express your creativity as well as content knowledge and can be extra-rewarding when desired results are achieved. Developing well-planned lessons is a learned skill, and it can take many years to fine-tune or polish the fruits of your labor. Why reinvent the wheel for every class when you can research great lessons and either use them as written or tweak them to your own liking? There are thousands of lesson plans available on the Internet, and you should not feel guilty using them as you see fit: that’s what they’re for! Here, you will find a listing of thirty great lesson plan sites for social studies teachers. Peruse, use and modify, but more importantly, have fun doing so!
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Preparing For Parent Teacher Conferences

October 9, 2013 • For Teachers • 14268

Every school has them. Some are during the school day; some are after; and for the special ones, some are even on weekends. They occupy your mind as a teacher for the weeks preceding, then haunt you for months afterwards. They are parent teacher conferences, and if you’ve been on “both sides of the desk” so to speak, you know conferences mean different things to the two involved parties.
For the majority of teachers, parent teacher conferences are stressful, not due to having to talk with parents (good teachers do this regularly, courtesy of email), but rather due to the observation, preparation and follow through involved. Think it’s just ten to fifteen minutes when teachers state basic observations and thoughts on your child? Think again. Here is what really goes into parent teacher conferences and how you as a teacher can get through them with greater ease.
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Three Ways To Help Your Kid With Homework

October 8, 2013 • For Parents • 2797

Countless experts have voiced their opinions on this matter. Education and parenting experts have voiced their thoughts, given recommendations and provided insight regarding how to best help your child with his or her homework. Here is a fact to consider: these “experts” do not know your child. They don’t know your home routines, lifestyles, personality quirks, likes or dislikes. They are anonymous people claiming to have the best knowledge about how to teach or parent your child, when the truth is, there is no cookie cutter format to helping your child. Each kid is different, each family is different and each classroom is different, so therefore, each kid requires individualized, unique attention and you must become your own “expert” on this matter.

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English Lesson Plans

October 6, 2013 • Lesson Plans • 2669

From the National Council of Teachers of English: http://www.ncte.org/lessons

If you’re looking for practical instructional ideas, you’re in the right place. ReadWriteThink.org offers classroom-tested lesson plans providing ready resources for educators working with students aged from PreK to high school.

Explore the lessons, student interactives, calendar activities, strategy guides, podcasts, mobile apps, videos, and parent & afterschool resources to find the literacy resources you need.
Back to School Ideas
The school bells are ringing, classrooms are buzzing, and we’re off on this year’s adventure with a new group of students. NCTE has resources, lesson plans, and activities to support you now and throughout the year. Explore these strategies and resources today!

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