The Greatest Teacher

HILARIOUS 

 Have you seen this video? 

 http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=6171#sthash.FnDz1Nkp.dpuf


Yesterday I attended a literacy conference in my district. The keynote speaker was Janet Stevens. 

   Janet Stevens doodled on her elementary school assignments- including math assignments. While this didn't always sit well with her teachers, it was what she liked to do. She wasn't particularly talented but she liked to draw. The youngest of three children, Janet wasn't good at anything. Her older brother and sister were smart. Her sister Susie was "perfect and prissy" and got to wear blue dresses all the time. Drab Janet wore brown dresses.

One comment spoke to me- She never thought she could be a writer because she was always in the lowest reading group in school--not the kids who had to leave the room, but close!

Janet encourages kids to write or draw their favorite things, like chairs or shoes or wrinkly rhinoceroses.

 Part of learning to be good at art, she says, is to let yourself be bad at art.

Art can be learned. There is no right or wrong way to do art.

You don't have to be the very BEST! You can get better with practice. 

Be prepared to be wrong!

Writing is simple- Stories are happening all the time. Sometimes misspelled words became her titles. 

At one of my break out sessions we tried a Kagan structure called Window Pane. Are you Kagan trained? I am wanting to get trained this summer. One strategy that I can't wait to try with my students is 

Window Pane

 'Window Pane' is a strategy in which you stop at pre-determined places in reading and have kids sketch...  they use their pictures to retell the story. I know the students would love this!


Do you have a favorite Kagan strategy or brain based strategy? 

WORKSHEETS... Don't Grow Dendrites!