Tag: 21st Century skills
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Supporting Intermediate Struggling Readers
I find that supporting struggling readers in Intermediate is very difficult. It is difficult to support with a classroom library or school library collection, difficult to run guided reading, and difficult to preserve self-esteem because using websites and books that may be at appropriate reading levels are also often for ‘little kids’. It is important to…
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The Problem with Standardized Tests
I was recently made aware of a comment that a teacher made about the removal of standardized tests this year. It was something to the effect of: ‘I have no idea what or how to teach now that the tests aren’t going to happen‘. This was a real ‘lightbulb’ moment for me. I thought, what…
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Make School Different: Think Like a Librarian
In keeping with the meme #makeschooldifferent, I have been thinking more about the philosophies behind Librarianship. I decided to think about this in terms of what I want to START, instead of what we need to STOP pretending. I am passionate about education and have also been working on a project for New Pedagogies for…
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It is not about the technology. It is about what we do with it.
This year I have been greatly inspired from a Teacher-Librarian at another school, who has been an expert at garnering support for reading amazing Canadian Literature! More specifically – The Forest of Reading from the Ontario Library Association. What I love most about what she does, is that she has built a strong global sense of community…
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4 Top Communication Skills for Educators
Using effective communication skills in our learning environments will promote student voice, equity, balance, literacy skills, and academic success! I am currently Instructing a College Course in Psychology that promotes key counselling skills via Desire2Learn LMS. I am able to work with a cohort of amazing candidates who are not in the education profession.…
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8 Ingredients for increasing Literacy and 21st Century Skills
Students who access and use libraries and their contents – both librarians and books – outperform those students who rarely or never use libraries. I am inspired from this quote from the article: It’s About Access. This is particularly because it outlines 2 very powerful words: Access and Use. Access and use of effective and appropriate…
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6 Reasons to Promote 21st Century Skills vs 21st Century Tech
“Any educator that aims at completeness must be at once theoretical and practical, intellectual and moral.” Aldous Huxley, Words and Their Meaning, 1940. There are many skills that go into creating that ‘complete’ learning experience that we want for our students. Theory, practical, intellectual and moral principles all play important roles in the development of…
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5 Considerations for Welcoming Environments in our Schools
Fostering welcoming environments in education is essential for improving learning and engagement. Schools can help acknowledge students by representing their cultural diversity. This can be done by embedding cultural symbols, and practices into our buildings, classrooms, and online environments that serve to help make students and parents feel welcome and important. However, it is a…
Big Ideas in Education Blog 