Teacher Talk

Child Safety

Over 3 Million Children are Safer

Thanks Yello Dyno!
When a child's life is at stake, this is what works.

The Yello Dyno Method™ is scientifically based on Nobel Prize-winning and internationally acclaimed research. Yello Dyno Methods™ activate children's "fight or flight" response. In fact, 80.8% of students demonstrate an increase in knowledge after one cycle of the Yello Dyno curriculum.

Generate proven results through the Yello Dyno curriculum and materials. Please visit the Yello Dyno web site to learn more about empowering the children in your arch/diocese's care take action. Safe & Sacred's children's curriculum partner, Yello Dyno, is an amazing influence in the lives of children ages 4 - 12.

"Unless children recognize deceptive behavior of Tricky People who mean them harm, it doesn't matter what safety rules they're taught."

- Jan Wagner, Founder of Yello Dyno

Safe environments provide a paramount foundation for learning. Children simply cannot learn, nor can teachers teach, if they do not feel safe.

Click here to learn about Professional Learning Board's
Partner in Safety

FREE Teacher Toolbar

FREE TOOLBAR

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Download this FREE Teacher Toolbar and keep the latest teaching and learning information at your fingertips. Updated automatically when you go to the Internet.

Click here to get the Teacher Toolbar today.

Got a suggestion for tools, web sites and other resources to be added?
Let the Toolbar Team know at toolbar@professionallearningboard.com.

Nuts for this Preschool Site

Pre-school age children are going nuts for this recently discovered site. The Little Animals Activity has a little bit of everything for nearly everyone's little one. Despite the cheezy graphics that make me believe even I can draw the simplicity of this site provides good, clean, learning fun.

Phonics & Rhyme
Preschoolers learn and practice letter sounds and rhymes with Digby Mole and these word games.

Music & Rhyme
A listening and watching activity garners attention and the rhyming story is just sweet with owl's that say "woof" and earthworms with claws.

Stories
The Storybear section features online books that include an option to toggle sound off/on. A nice feature is audio and written directions that tell users where to click.

Puzzles
I'm not sure if it's a lack of understanding due to age (the riddles and jokes just didn't work for me or my children) or perhaps language (British vs American English). Regardless, I'm not impressed with Puzzlesnuff and his stuff.

Math
The number games led by Count Hoot the Owl introduce addition and subtraction. While I'm not an early childhood expert by any means, as a parent I'm really impresed with the different levels eg. items to count as well as numerals to recognize.

Printable Activities
Mazes, recipes, dot-to-dots and crafts are all part of Micky Maker's activities.

Giggles for Learning

We love how these words summarize parenting (our dads love it too!) and believe there's a comparative teacher summation out there. So, here's the challenge:

1. Create a video that generates similar head-nodding agreement and maybe even a few laughs.
2. Post it at www.TeacherTube.com (like YouTube but expressly for education).
3. Submit a link to your entry here.

It's not scientific and there's no rubric but we'll give you a free course (up to $25 value) if you make us giggle. C'mon and tell your friends too!

Reading Resource: Spelling & Vocabulary PK-12+

Oops, almost forgot this great reading resource.
Dig around the site a little for Spanish, Hebrew and more language games and learning tools. Gracias y Toda Raba Jacob Richman!

Reading Resources

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Click Here for Preview
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ARTICLE: Read All About It  NEW!
Technology motivates students to read.
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When Kids Can't Read: A Guide for Teachers 6-12

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Students learn 90% more
with 72% retention.

http://www.vocabularycartoons.com
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Teacher's Top-Ten

A teacher's top-ten list of why Kimbo Educational products deserve serious consideration in teaching and learning strategies.

Nursery Rhymes are one of the best tools for helping children build phonological awareness (an ear for sound). Movement awakens and activates thinking. Between birth and three years of age, a child's brain is twice as active as an adult's. Toddlers are particularly receptive to developing both vocabulary and an ear for sound. Music decreases anxiety and reduces stress. Movement is a sensory experience that anchors thought. Exercise keeps us alert and enhances our memory. Nursery Rhymes teach the rhythm and patterns of language. Dancing enhances pattern recognition. Music and movement build a foundation for literacy. Vocabulary size and sound discrimination ability (rhyming words, alliteration, etc.) are the two best predictors of reading success.

A musing...

I've been giving serious consideration to how we can make systemic changes in American education, specifically teaching and learning.

As a pioneer (entrepreneur) in K12 education, I often find myself alone and on the road less traveled. Please lend your expertise, opinions and experiences as I welcome voices from outside of my head. Thanks!

Making Change

My neighbor claims that his preschool child is capable of making correct change from a five-dollar bill. Now, my area of is not this age group nor do I know where this math skill falls within an 'age-appropriateness' scale of standards. I do know, to me, this is impressive. I also know, that regardless of whether or not this is accurate (afterall, the father has five school age children), there are children who clearly achieve at remarkable levels.

So, if young Joe is "advanced" for his age in mathematics, or other academic areas, should he be "moved ahead" in grade level? And, what if he is '"on target" or even 'behind' with his language development? Would I think otherwise if Joe was in high school?

In my fifteen years of working with high school students, I have recollection of only a handful of students who have graduated early, heading to college studies at age 16 or 17. I don't know of any students who have been "held back." Of course there are the "super-seniors," those who have not met requirements for graduation, who continue in "alternative programs." Oh, and those who "drop-out" altogether.

Teaching and learning is clearly "different" today than years ago. Advances in science and technology result in increasingly greater and faster access to information that hastens the rate at which society is able to respond. Farewell to stories of a pony-express and waiting several weeks for word to travel cross-country.

SCRATCH This!

Okay, I must admit that I'm itching to play with SCRATCH, to create interactive animations, stories and games!

Local students at St. Paul Public School's Expo for Excellence Magnet School have been betatesting new software from MIT Media Lab, a programming language that lets kids create their own games, interactive arts and animations.

Kid's can program a dance, create a chase game and animate their name.

Plus, it's FREE and translates into many languages

If you think this is intriguing, there's more. . .

Find SCRATCH at MIT Media Lab web link at http://scratch.mit.edu.
Or DOWNLOAD SCRATCH now as a free download!

The Perfect Gift

20 Reasons Books are the Best Gifts!
by Ruth Smith, Director UBAH

 

20. Books don’t need to be assembled.
19. Books don’t need batteries.
18. Books never come in the wrong color or size.
17. Books don’t need to be serviced by a dealer.
16. Books won't need replacement parts.
15. Books are easier to gift wrap than footballs.
14. Books don’t bite, scratch, or kick.
13. Books don’t need watering or fertilizing.
12. Books don’t irritate your allergies.
11. Books don’t go out of style.
10. Books look good with any decor.
9.  Books don’t get aphids or attract ants.
8.  Books aren't noisy and won't annoy family, friends, and neighbors.
7.  Books don’t shrink, stretch, or fade.
6.  Books don’t need extension cords.
5.  Bookswon’t scratch the coffee table.
4.  Books don’t cause cavities or get stale.
3.  Books take you places without even leaving home.
2.  Books are gifts which can be opened again and again.
1.  Books, no matter how much you use them, are never empty.

Order before December 15th and receive before Christmas!