Hi friends,
How are you today? If you have been reading the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations for a while, you know that I try to give writing prompts about once a month. I know how difficult it can be to come up with writing ideas at times. Even as I was trying to decide what to do for this writing prompt today, I was having trouble with coming up with a topic. However, I finally came up with one. Yesterday, I was wracking my mind to come up with a topic. I wasn’t feeling up to par and I was tired. It was raining out and I was craving some sunshine. No ideas were coming to mind. I was complaining a bit in my mind about the rain and then thought that I should have a writing prompt about the rain. So, I started to think about some memories I had about the rain. I remembered stomping in puddles when I was a small child, trying to walk around the many puddles when I was a bit older, wearing self-made rain coats out of garbage bags on a trip with my parents when I was a bit older, and singing in the rain and having the time of my life as an adult. Yes, I have many more memories about the rain. I am sure many people have memories of rain in which they can turn into a story. It can be a fictionalized story or a true story based on your experience. It is up to you. You can also choose to create an entirely new story all together. Your assignment, if you choose to take it is this: Write a story in which rain plays a prominent part. It can be a memory and true story of something you experienced or something that is completely made up. It can include people or animals as characters. Your story can be cute, funny, serious, scary, nonchalant, or evoke any emotion you would like. Now, it is your turn: If you try it, I would enjoy hearing from you. Let me know what you think and how you enjoyed the assignment. Also, you can tell me a sentence or two about the story. Leave a comment or feel free to contact me. I haven’t mentioned it in a while, but did you know that DUO Inspirations is on Pinterest? Feel free to check it out here or explore the DUO Inspirations website. Also, if you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other education content in your inbox. Thank you.
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Hi friends, How are you today? I hope you are well. I want to talk with you about giving students some choice and responsibility in their learning. This also includes helping students set and reach goals. You may find this difficult to believe, but I even did this when I was teaching kindergarten. Yes, even my kindergarteners had a choice in what their learning goals would be. I think I did this weekly. I would ask each student about his or her goals. At first, some students weren’t sure what to say. Yet, as time went by, all students could tell me something. In the beginning, I might give them a few examples, like… “Do you want to learn a new letter or two or do you want to learn to count to ten?” I didn’t start this from the first day. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks into the school year or more, when I had some idea what each student was capable of doing before I asked him or her to set a learning goal. I wanted to make sure that I had some idea how to guide him or her, before I asked someone so young to do something that some adults haven’t mastered. After I met with each student to help him or her create his or her learning goal, I wrote a short note home. It went something like, “Dear parent, ___________ has chosen to learn ___________ for his/her learning goal. You can help him/her to do this by _____________. Thank you for your help in encouraging your child’s learning progress.” Not only did I tell parents the goals their children had chosen, but how to help their children achieve those goals. Some parents may try to leave the teaching to teachers. However, they may be more apt to become involved in teaching their children if they knew how to do it. So, I gave specific guidance to the parents as well as the students in how they can achieve those goals. If there were any learning aids that I had to send home to help each student achieve his or her learning goals, I did that as well. I wouldn’t send home a bunch of expensive things. Mostly, they were handmade flashcards or activities that I had prepared ahead of time. Students and parents seemed to like this practice. It helped build relationships with them. It also helped to know that I was including the parents and students in the learning process. I wasn’t trying to dictate everything that is learned and how it is learn or by whom. I really enjoyed having students choose some of his or her own learning goals and encouraging parents to help him or her achieve them. I enjoyed the relationship building and I enjoyed how much more motivated students and parents seemed to be. I also like that it was helping students not only academically, but also in the skills of goal setting and achievement. Note: Older students could write his or her their own learning goals. Then, the teacher could write a little note at the bottom as to how the parent could help him or her achieve those goals. When a student reached a certain grade, maybe high school, he or she can write his or her learning goals and do the work to achieve them independently. Now, it is your turn. I am glad you are here. Thank you for joining me. Do you help students set learning goals? What grade do you teach? What is your procedure? Do you get parents involved? Please, share your experience with us so we can learn. Please, comment below or contact me. I am always looking for your ideas, suggestions, questions, and requests. I am committed to helping others teach and learn. Please, check out all the education pages and educational resources that DUO Inspirations offers. Thank you. Are you finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations? If you are finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with friends, parents, teachers, and family members so they can find value in it as well. If you haven't already done so, you may also want to consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog and other education content in your inbox. I won't overwhelm you with emails. Emails come out most Wednesdays for the Education Blog after it is published. 
Hi friends,
How are you? Today, I would like to talk with you about learning bookmarks. Have you ever used them? Learning bookmarks are bookmarks that do more than holding the reader’s place. Learning bookmarks are mini activity pages to help the reader get more out of the book and become a better reader. There are many styles and sizes of learning bookmarks. Some have questions and activities about characters. Others have questions and activities about plot, setting, or other aspects of the book. There are learning bookmarks that also have spaces for the reader to ask questions, make notes, write down vocabulary words, make connections, and such. (DUO Inspirations currently has the latter for an educational resource and product.) The newest learning bookmark by DUO Inspirations has three activity spots. In each spot, the reader can write the page number and choose to write a vocabulary word, ask a question, make a connection, or write a note about what he or she likes in the book. I like the flexibility in the newest learning bookmark. It is nice to have a resource that can be used in multiple ways. What do you think? The Learning Bookmark by DUO Inspirations is also a great resource for readers of all ages. The idea of a learning bookmark is the ease of use and availability. That is a bookmark is right there with the book. So, instead of having to find a notebook, piece of paper, or computer, the reader can make notes or ask questions right on the bookmark. The Learning Bookmark is blank on one side. (Although, it could be printed two-sided.) On the blank side, the reader can draw an illustration based on the book or decorate it in a personal way. Another great idea would be to print it on cardstock and laminate it. That way, the bookmark can be used multiple times for multiple books. The reader can then use a dry erase marker on the bookmark. If you are interested in purchasing a Learning Bookmark by DUO Inspirations, you can press the link below. 
Now, it is your turn. I am so glad that you are here. I hope you are enjoying and finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations. I would enjoy hearing if you have used learning bookmarks before. Have you used the Learning Bookmark by DUO Inspirations or other learning bookmarks? Do you and your students enjoy them? Do you use them for your own reading? What kinds of activities are on the learning bookmarks that you use? What type of activities would you like to see on the next learning bookmarks by DUO Inspirations? Please, leave a comment or feel free to contact me. If you are finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with friends, coworkers, and family members, so they can enjoy it as well. Also, if you haven't already done so, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other education content in your inbox. Thank you. 
Hi friends,
How are you today? I hope you are well. I know you must be tired of Covid and looking for new ways to save time and still be the teacher you want to be. An important part of that is parent/teacher communication. So, how do you keep in touch with parents now? How often do you let parents know how their child is doing? When I taught kindergarten, I sent home communication every day as to how each child was doing. Sometimes it was difficult to find the time to send home a communication for each child every day. Sometimes I would do it during nap time, sometimes during specials, and sometimes I would do it during lunch. Sometimes it was just when I found a few minutes here or there, I would fill out the form that went home for communication. For kindergarten class, often a communication home would consist of a star, smiley face, sad face, or straight-line face. Sometimes, a student might get an angry face going home as well. This would quickly tell parents how their child was doing. There were days, when I was busy and the face or star was the only communication. Although, when a child received a sad face or angry face, there was always an accompanying explanation. On days when I had a little more time, I liked to include a note of praise, especially during times of success after extreme difficulty. I also wrote reminders on days before a field trip, inclement weather, or something out of the ordinary. The daily communication was in addition to a monthly newsletter that was sent home. The monthly newsletter was more general though. It let parents know the kinds of things that their children would be doing as well as any upcoming events for the month. 
This is a daily communication sheet that I recreated from memory of what I sent home daily with students. They liked to see how they were doing by looking at the child friendly communication sheet. The parents enjoyed getting a little idea of how their child was doing each day. I enjoyed it, because I could tell a parent so much with just a face or quick sentence or two in a note.
Feel free to download this sample and use it yourself. I would be happy to hear how you, your students, and your parents like it. The good thing about a form like this, it can be easily transformed so you can add other features for quick communication. I may do that at some point. I may create some other daily communication sheets for parent/teacher communication. What do you think? If you need a daily communication sheet to fit your needs, please feel free to contact me. Thank you. Thank you for being here. I hope you are enjoying and finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations. If you do find value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with friends, family, and coworkers. Also, if you haven't already, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other education content in your inbox. |
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