Adaptive Intervention
Try Liftoff with your at-risk students to help find their level, work at their level, and quickly rise to grade-level on specific skills and standards.
Marketing
How I am Raising Two Happy Readers
I have always been a reader. Words are a big part of my existence. And, I am not kidding when I say they are a BIG, HUMONGOUS, TREMENDOUS, ENORMOUS, GIGANTIC part of my being. Did I say I love the written word?
I was five years old when I wrote my first story about a little girl who loses her mother and sends a bird to find her. With the help of the bird, she rescues her mother. Ever since, I have not stopped writing poems and stories nearly every day. I spend even more of my awake time reading. Even when I commute to work, I listen to audiobooks.
Fortunately for me, I work as a writer, editor and publisher for an e-learning company developing testing materials for young children. At work, I am always focused on making English Language Arts and Reading engaging for little ones.
About eight years ago, I was worried about the baby I was about to welcome to the world not being a reader. GASP! Would that even be possible? I read to her before she showed up in my arms. And, I did the same for her little sister who followed her to earth. Fast forward to present time, I have two happy little readers.
Today, I want to share with you how you can also raise happy readers. 1. Make books available
Luckily, my friends knew me well and blessed me with volumes of children’s books for my baby shower. They picked their childhood favorite and built a library for my children. I am forever grateful. There is always a book for my children to pick up. Books were their first toys. 2. Make reading fun
Because reading is fun for me, I want my children to enjoy reading, too. I try to make reading playful. When they were babies, my girls were thrilled by my animation and theatrics. You don’t have to put on an opera. Children don’t care how you sound. They only care that you are enjoying reading to them. Fun is contagious that way! 3. Take a book or two along
For children who are easily bored by any waiting time, a book is a perfect solution. Keep some books in the car. Take some with you on road trips or even to the doctor’s or the dentist’s office. All the time spent waiting and whining could be spent reading instead.
Have you checked out audiobooks for children? Many authors have read their books, which can be doubly fun for children. They get to hear the real author and listen to books while they are lounging around the house or riding to and from soccer or dance. I would rather hear Shel Silverstein speak in my car about the tree who loves the boy than to repeat “No. We are not there yet”). 4. Take trips to the library
I am a proud card-carrying member of the library. If you haven’t been to the library lately, you might be blown away by the programs that make being around books irresistible. They have daytime programs for babies and tots and tons of afterschool programs for preschoolers and older kids. My local library has reading kits, robots in briefcases and whatnot. I could write a novel about all the rewards my children received from the Summer Reading Program (like the annual medal from the city mayor and a Super Reader Party), but that is for another day. 5. Let the children pick out books
Little ones LOVE getting to make choices. We don’t always think about how often we tell them what to do and when to do it. So, let them make reading choices from appropriate materials. Take them to the library (there, I speak of my favorite place again) or a used bookstore. Let them browse and choose good books! 6. Get a book for a hobby
My children are into baking—chances are yours are, too. When my girls get to pick out cooking or baking books for children, their eyes light up like it’s their birthday. When they pick a cupcake to bake or popsicle to freeze, they have another book memory to make with me. Whatever their hobby, there’s a book for that. Tools or trucks, brownies or space, explore the children’s hobbies with books. 7. Let them watch book-based shows
All TV-time is educational—so wouldn’t you want to choose what your children are learning. Why not choose book-based shows? You can even invent games like comparing books and movies. Ask them which they liked better and why. You can even get them to read a book to earn movie time. 8. Use technology to your advantage
More than likely, your children already use technology in the classroom or at home. Why not use them to get children to read more? One of the best programs out there is Education Galaxy. It incorporates fun and games to make learning, which includes reading passages (many written by yours truly) an enjoyable experience. Whenever I visit classrooms to talk about work, young students comment that they LOVE hearing content read aloud by children (many recorded by the offspring of yours truly). 9. Lead by example
We’ve all heard it: children copy what you do rather than doing what you say. If you never pick up a book but hound at the children to keep reading, they will take reading as yet another chore. If you also read a book while your little ones are reading, they would want to be just like mommy or daddy. Trust me, it is easier to unwind by reading than to pester and nag unwilling little people about books. You will earn some quiet time as well. What a win-win-win!
I hope you find some of these tips useful. Here’s to happy reading.
Marketing
The Importance of Your Administrator’s Trust
I would like to think of myself as an innovative educator. I am always trying to come up with a better, more efficient, and effective way to teach and inspire students, which brings me to a problem I had in my classroom that I would like to share with you.
Our district funded an "edtech" program that was supposed to help our students fill in the gaps and reach mastery of content standards. I was attempting to use this program with my students, but every time my students took out the Chromebooks and logged in, it became a struggle to keep my students on-task.
They hated working on it, which made my job even harder. I planned to work with small groups, walk around and monitor groups of students at different centers, all of which were disrupted by unengaged students on this "edtech" program. It was supposed to help students learn and raise our test scores and close gaps, but it had the opposite effect.
I was tired of battling misbehavior while trying to utilize the program, so I asked my administration if using this program was mandatory, and my principal told me that if it is not helping my students and I don't see being effective, then I did not have to use it. Ahhhhh, a sigh of relief. I was very fortunate that our leadership team trusted us and valued our opinions. After all, teachers are closest to their students and know the needs of their children better than anyone else.
A few months later, I came across @educationgalaxy on Twitter. I hadn't heard of it before, so I navigated to their website, watched a video or two, and then signed up for a free account. The company claimed to be engaging and fun for students while also being aligned with my state standards. So, I thought I would give it a try.
On Twitter, I came across pictures of other teachers’ bulletin boards with these “Alien Ranking Cards” on them, and I thought what a cool idea to amp up the competition and celebrate their growth! After searching online and not being able to find these cards, I finally sent out a tweet,
And David Lozano from Education Galaxy emailed them to me within 5 minutes. The very next day, I had my bulletin board up in the hallway by my classroom door, and all of my student's accounts were ready to go! The people working for Education Galaxy were so kind through emails, social media, and even phone calls. Stephanie helped me upload all of my students with a spreadsheet, which made it so easy and seamless for me! The next thing I knew, I rolled it out to my students and wait for it... THEY LOVED IT.
I was in shock with how engaged my students were! Not to mention how easy it was for me to pull reports! I used them weekly to plan for small groups and inform my instruction. It couldn't get any better than this! I had standard specific data from rigorous questions, and I could see individual and class averages at my fingertips without any grading from me! I'm telling you, it was great! They had fun and learning, so they won. I was able to differentiate and pull small groups without having to monitor behavior, so I won! It was the best win-win situation I have ever experienced.
It wasn't long before my colleagues noticed my bulletin board and started asking me what it was! Students in their classes began asking, "How come Miss Kuhl's students get to play Education Galaxy." That's right play; students view it as a game when, in all reality, they were working on test prep!
The rest of my 5th-grade team hopped on the bandwagon about a week or so later. We used the program for about two months before we had to take the District Checkpoint Test. Our previous scores were less than impressive. On the last DCP, our campus was the third school from the bottom out of 33 elementary schools in our district. After using Education Galaxy for a short amount of time, our 5th graders scored above the district average!
We love a good @toschelem testimonial video! Thank you! @MrsAliOdom @mesquiteisdtx @missmkuhl @AngelWiersema @edcampfomo #edchat #edtech pic.twitter.com/ghNohwaQAp
— Education Galaxy (@EducationGalaxy) April 13, 2017
Soon after, our Leadership team was intrigued and wondering what we were doing differently! Our whole campus tried the program out with our K-5th-grade students, and at the end of the year, our principal had us vote on which program we wanted to use for next year, and Education Galaxy won! Our principal told us how happy she was that we chose Education Galaxy for a couple of reasons. It was a lot cheaper than some of the other programs we had previously purchased that were underused, and it had all of the subjects. So we were able to replace multiple programs by choosing to implement Education Galaxy. Our growth was evident between the district checkpoints, and our principal was excited to see what we could do with it in a whole year!
Through communicating with Education Galaxy employees and experiencing this revolutionary tool they have created, I formed a friendship with our EdGal Consultant, David, and I decided to leave the classroom this summer and join them in efforts to help more students and teachers have the same experience that I did!
I become so passionate about the fantastic things Education Galaxy was doing that I want to help the company would grow and flourish. After meeting with Jeremy Verret, the CEO of Education Galaxy, I discovered how big his heart was. Hearing his goals to help educators and students touched my teacher heart. I knew this was the direction my life was meant to go; this was a company that I could really get behind and enjoy supporting.
I hope you enjoyed reading my story, and I hope you will remember to keep fighting for what is best for your students. Where there is a will, there is a way.
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