Posts Tagged ‘reflective practice’
Professional Books Worth Studying
At ERG we believe it is important to be a lifelong learner. One way to continue to develop yourself professionally when you have limited time and resources is to do a book study or just read a professional text on your own. Depending on what your area of interest and expertise is, there are many…
Read MoreFine Tuning the Routine
“It is significant to realize that the most creative environments in our society are not the ever-changing ones. The artist’s studio, the researcher’s laboratory, the scholar’s library are each kept deliberately simple so as to support the complexities of the work in progress. They are deliberately kept predictable so the unpredictable can happen.” Lucy Calkins,…
Read MoreThe 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 MoreAdvice for the New Year
From the desk of Carol C. . . It’s both exciting and terrifying to begin the school year as a new teacher. No matter how many years you’ve taught, you can always remember those first few years in the classroom…the grade level curriculum, behavior management, scheduling to name a few. Some of the issues facing…
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 MoreRaving Fans
From the desk of Alice… I read a book called Raving Fans by Kenneth Blanchard when we first opened the doors of ERG in 2004. With limited background in business at that time, I tried to make the most of the content and have carried it forward through the 10 years of our work. Recently,…
Read MoreEnthusiasm + Passion = Energy
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” – Oprah Winfrey This month’s focus at ERG is Enthusiasm, so I traced the etymology of the word and found it comes from the Greek meaning “divine inspiration.” Cool, huh? I think one…
Read MoreStop Talking…Please
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” Walt Disney From the desk of Carol C. . . Recently my friend, Susan, asked me to dinner. She had invited another friend of hers, too…a person I hadn’t met before. Her friend was pleasant, and I found her stories of traveling interesting. …
Read MoreOpen the Gate
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . I just finished reading an article that called math “the gatekeeper of success.” Sounded a little scary to me, but got me thinking. A lack of skill and confidence in math problem solving can affect the ability to make some critically important decisions. Often when people…
Read MoreWhat Reflective Teaching Looks Like…
From the couch of Monica… In my first contribution to the ERG blog, I wrote about reflective teaching and how true reflection transforms what we are able to accomplish in the classroom through our planning. Considering the 20 kiddos in front of me as a teacher, and balancing their need with the demands of the…
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