Learning
The New 3 R's
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . The day before school started, a young father asked me for advice on how to navigate the journey as a kindergarten parent. As a seasoned (really just a nice way to say – old) kindergarten teacher, my heart filled with empathy for this young dad. I…
Read MoreInfluence
From the desk of Carol C. . . “We change lives. We affect people every single day with the words we say, the looks on our face, the actions we choose, and the decisions we make.” Joshua Becker Last week I read a blog by Joshua Becker. It talked about how we influence people even when…
Read MoreTrue Coaching is a Gift
From the desk of Alice… ERG is on the eve of celebrating 11 years of business. In those 11 years, we have managed to fine tune the process of job-embedded coaching in a way that gets results at the school level. When we started ERG, coaching was not a mainstream idea. In fact, coaching was…
Read MoreSpreading a Feast of Ideas
From the desk of Leigh Ann… “Our fault, our exceeding great fault, is that we keep our own minds and the minds of our children shamefully underfed.” – Charlotte Mason This summer I became inspired by the work of educator Charlotte Mason. Her life was dedicated to improving the quality of education for children at…
Read MoreWell Families
From the desk of Carol C. . . Ahhh…the perfect family…all smiles and laughter This is called fantasy land, and since perfect families just don’t exist, let’s aim for having well families. This means making your family the best they can be. We know healthy students make healthy learners, so it is important to think…
Read MoreBook Club Anyone?
From the desk of Carol C. . . I love a book club. Reading the same book and discussing it with my friends brings me such joy. Can our students feel the same way? Some fourth teachers decided to give it a try. Here’s how it went. First, each student in fourth grade was assessed…
Read MoreJenny's Lesson
From the desk of Carol C. . . “Learning should be a joy and full of excitement. It is life’s greatest adventure.” –Caldwell When I first started teaching, kids didn’t take any End of Grade tests. Instead, they took the California Achievement Test (CAT). I don’t know what it was like at other schools, but…
Read MoreMindful and Meaningful
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . All week I worked with a student on being “mindful” about his words and actions. I had encouraged him to stop and truly focus before completing a task, answering a question, or reacting to a classmate. Then I was challenged to take an “Awareness Test” and…
Read MoreNo more busy work.
From the desk of Katie… Highschool. Large classes, playing sports, clubs, social events, wanting to sleep late and stay up even later, driving, prom, and college applications. Highschool is supposed to be busy but not miserable, we should be able to have a life outside of school and homework, and that just isn’t possible if…
Read MoreMaking Feedback Meaningful
From the desk of Carol C. . . “We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”- Bill Gates “Please help us serve you better. This survey will only take a few minutes, but it will tell us how to improve. Please give us your opinion.” Everywhere we seem to be inundated…
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