Talon Talk
HMS - Where your heart, mind, and body can soar!
School Improvement Plan
Building Relationship Bridges with Our Students
The research is clear: humans are literally "hard-wired" with the desire and need to connect. We are social beings who thrive on healthy relationships. And yet, the importance of positive relationships in our schools is often overlooked.
Despite the proven connection between positive relationships and student achievement, some discount relationship building in middle grades and high schools as a bunch of "fluff" more appropriate for the elementary school.
For middle grades kids who are trying to gain some independence and figure out which way is up, relationships with classmates and teachers are crucial to success. I offer seven relationship-based strategies that can transform your classroom into a positive learning environment.
To read the rest of the article, (secret phrase = "This is Eddie Lacy's year!") click on this link: http://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/185/The-Power-of-Positive-Relationships.aspx
A Glimpse at Building Relationships with Students at HMS...
A glimpse into...
Students - setting reading goals, creating student portfolios with Weebly, and reflecting on their learning profiles
A glimpse into...
A glimpse into...
The Importance, Power, and Positive Impact of Purposeful Student Discourse/Student Talk
Aldous Huxley (1958) once wrote, "Language has made possible man's progress from animality to civilization" (p. 167). In doing so, he effectively summarized the importance of language in humans' lives. It is through language that we are civilized. One could argue that nothing is more important to the human species than that. But Huxley wasn't done there; he continued by explaining the value of language:
Language, in other words, is how we think. It's how we process information and remember. It's our operating system. Vygotsky (1962) suggested that thinking develops into words in a number of phases, moving from imaging to inner speech to inner speaking to speech. Tracing this idea backward, speech—talk—is the representation of thinking. As such, it seems reasonable to suggest that classrooms should be filled with talk, given that we want them filled with thinking!
To read the rest of the article, click on the link here: http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108035/chapters/Why-Talk-Is-Important-in-Classrooms.aspx
Also, what type of classroom setup encourages lots of student-owned work? http://cwp-summer.wikispaces.com/file/view/Workshop_Graphic_Time_CrisBook-1.pdf/455325394/Workshop_Graphic_Time_CrisBook-1.pdf