One Story About Embracing Diversity and Empowering Students

Kim CarterAffinities, Classroom Culture, Learning Challenges, School Culture, Teacher Effectiveness, Whole Child

In this powerful and inspiring TEDxManhattan talk, teacher Stephen Ritz shares a program he started with his students called Green Bronx Machine. More important than the program itself, though, is how the experiences have transformed and empowered his students — their present and their future. Jackie Gerstein describes his work in her post “Learners as Entrepreneurs,” Stephen Ritz’s Bronx classroom features … Read More

Oh, The Places You’ll Find Yourself — Spatially Speaking

Kim CarterBrain Facts, Graphomotor Function, Learning, Spatial Ordering, Whole Child

Below is a TED Talk by Neil Burgess, a neuroscientist at the University College in London, who researches, as described on the TED website, “how patterns of electrical activity in brain cells guide us through space.” [ted id=1349] Supplemental to the grid cells Dr. Burgess discusses are additional neurological systems that give us a sense of our surroundings. Dan Peterson, … Read More

From “Deficits” to “Neurodiversity” — The Time Is Now

Kim CarterDemystification, Differentiated Learning, Learning

In a recent commentary piece at Education Week, author, speaker and educator Dr. Thomas Armstrong argues for tipping from a deficit model to a more inclusive (and enlightened) model that values students’ strengths, regardless of their learning profiles. He writes, I believe it’s time for a paradigm shift in the field of special education. Fortunately, a new concept has emerged … Read More