When in school, students are expected to follow routines and complete assignments within certain time frames. Children must follow these same guidelines when continuing the learning process at home, managing their time and effort to complete homework assignments and projects on time. Time management is critical to many of the expectations placed on students, including initiating assignments, taking the appropriate … Read More
Summer Blog Series Post #3: Higher Order Thinking, Creativity, and Brainstorming
The ability to come up with ideas, to elaborate, and to think about objects or topics in a new way all involve what we refer to as “creativity.” At All Kinds of Minds, we believe that students should be encouraged – both at home and in school – to find areas in which they can discover forms of creative output … Read More
Summer Blog Series Post #2: The Role of Memory in Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is one of the most complex academic skills. Skilled readers construct meaning by synchronizing a bottom-up approach to reading (decoding words fluently and accurately) with a top-down approach (using prior knowledge and experience during reading). Neurodevelopmental factors: Reading comprehension involves a variety of neurodevelopmental functions, including attention, memory, language, and higher order cognition. In this post, we’re going … Read More
Summer Series – Understanding Common Learning Challenges
Welcome to our new summer blog series! Each week we’ll bring you insights into various learning challenges students may face. We’ll start with some of the skills that students must master to be successful in school, discuss the neurodevelopmental factors involved, and look at common obstacles that students may encounter on the road to mastery. We’ll also offer practical strategies … Read More
What Makes an Effective Teacher?
By Guest Blogger: Donna Smart Isaacs, Teacher & All Kinds of Minds Facilitator Two years ago, I moved from Vermont to Maine, accepting a teaching job in a two-room K-8 island school. In the process, I was required to take two standardized national competency tests (i.e., PRAXIS tests). Nearly 30 years of professional experience and expertise in the field of … Read More
Wanted: Revolutionaries to Transform the Teaching Profession into the Learning Profession. Apply Within!
By Mary-Dean Barringer, CEO, All Kinds of Minds “The Teachers of 2030,” in the May 2010 issue of Educational Leadership, is a thought-provoking article about the future of the teaching profession. Authors Renee Moore and Barnett Berry draw attention to the fact that an important voice is missing from current education policy discussions – particularly those around teacher effectiveness and … Read More
Parents and Students Remind Us What Effective Educators Look Like. Is Washington Listening?
By Mary-Dean Barringer, CEO, All Kinds of Minds Two iconic educators—Jaime Escalante and Brian Betts—passed away this month. Known for their work in struggling schools (Garfield High School in Los Angeles and Shaw Middle School in Washington, D.C.), they shared a belief that students in low performing schools can find success as learners and a passion for doing the hard … Read More
Rosie O’Donnell explains how to “attune a child.”
By Mary-Dean Barringer, All Kinds of Minds CEO It took Rosie O’Donnell less than three minutes to describe an educational approach advocated by the All Kinds of Minds Institute. The New York Times shares a video where O’Donnell, and her son, talk about how they pinpointed the root of his learning struggles. It’s the best description of the “attuning a … Read More
Beyond Test Scores: The Missing Link in ‘No Child Left Behind’
By Mary-Dean Barringer, All Kinds of Minds CEO The U.S. House Labor and Education Committee will hold a hearing in Washington D.C. on April 14 to examine how the use of data systems in schools across the country can help improve educational outcomes. This is a critical part of looking at how they will reauthorize No Child Left Behind (NCLB). … Read More
Building Teacher Professional Judgment by Mary Jo Dunnington, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships at All Kinds of Minds
Reading Elizabeth Green’s “Building a Better Teacher” in The New York Times Magazine this weekend, I was encouraged at the ideas explored for helping those in the teaching profession become even better at what they do. As Green’s article notes, so much of the recent conversations about human capital in education among reformers have been around the pipeline – getting … Read More
