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COMMUNICATION SKILLS

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COMMUNICATION SKILLS Teaching Debate Across the Curriculum Debating helps students strengthen their communication and objective thinking skills and practice patience and tolerance. By Michelle Blanchet, September 30, 2022 Sometimes it feels like the art of debate is dying, but considering the benefits, it’s surprising that educators don’t employ the debate process more often across grade levels and content areas. Debate doesn’t just enrich content; it provides a way for students to deeply engage with what they’re learning, and they also gain profound skills. Through debate, students have the chance to do the following: Improve their written and oral communication skills Exercise their critical thinking and collaboration abilities Heighten their research, organization, and presentation skills as they work with team members to develop their best arguments Find and use their voice through public speaking Learn how to think objectively about an issue Practice tolerance, humility, and p...
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TO LEARN ANYTHING WELL, GET IT IN YOUR FEELINGS!

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TO LEARN ANYTHING WELL, GET IT IN YOUR FEELINGS! September 15 2014 Knowing something well enough to use in the real world is different from knowing it well enough to get a high score on a test. Tests play an important role, but the key to real world competence is to get a “feel” for the skill or subject area. So what does this mean? And how do we do it? Get it in your feelings Many years ago I participated in a leadership development workshop with an instructor who was not well educated but was a fabulous teacher. His mantra about anything that we were trying to learn was “get it in your feelings.” Initially I had no clue what he meant, but that notion has stayed with me over the years, and it makes more and more and more sense. He said that when we had a concept or skill in our feelings, we would be able to use it naturally when we needed it, even if we could not always explain it fully. Scientists are finally beginning to explain what my instructor was saying all those years ag...
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The life of Hypatia

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Hypatia (born c. 355 CE—died March 415, Alexandria), mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who lived in a very turbulent era in Alexandria’s history. She is the earliest female mathematician of whose life and work reasonably detailed knowledge exists. Hypatia was the daughter of Theon of Alexandria, himself a mathematician and astronomer and the last attested member of the Alexandrian Museum (see Researcher’s Note: Hypatia’s birth date). Theon is best remembered for the part he played in the preservation of Euclid’s Elements, but he also wrote extensively, commenting on Ptolemy’s Almagest and Handy Tables. Hypatia continued his program, which was essentially a determined effort to preserve the Greek mathematical and astronomical heritage in extremely difficult times. She is credited with commentaries on Apollonius of Perga’s Conics (geometry) and Diophantus of Alexandria’s Arithmetic (number theory), as well as an astronomical table (possibly a revised version of Book III of her ...
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Facilitating Learning Through Imaginative Play

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By: Maggie Sabin. April 4, 2022. Play is an essential part of life and can be fostered and strengthened in preschool classrooms to promote learning and growth. If all preschoolers do is play all day, how could they possibly be learning? Outsiders might believe that play is just play, but to an educator’s eye, play serves a multitude of different and important functions. Imaginative play is an outlet, a safe space where children can explore the world around them and process their experiences. They might work through their fears and apprehensions of their recent checkup by playing the role of the doctor in their next imaginative play session. Perhaps they play the part of “mom” or “dad” to harness that feeling of control they very rarely have in their lives. Through these dramas, children have a chance to process their thoughts and feelings and explore their relationships with other children. Imaginative play is a great instrument to use to learn the rules of friendship making (and ...
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Online education can be a good alternative

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  Online education can be a great way for children to learn if we do it right Online learning has been much-maligned since the pandemic began. In some recent headlines it has been called cruel, ridiculous and harmful. In Ontario, where many of the youngest learners don’t know what it’s like to be inside a physical classroom and have only seen their teacher on a video call, some frustrated and angry parents are boycotting online learning altogether. This makes it sound like we may as well throw our children overboard because online learning is so awful. As an administrator in a public online K-12 school in British Columbia, I have a different perspective. Online learning can be an excellent option for many students, and for some students it’s the best option. However, it must be done properly, and it usually works better when it is a choice . It is true that children benefit from in-class learning among their peers. It is also true that physical classrooms are wonderful places fo...
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Greta Thunberg

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 Greta Thunberg is a Swedish climate youth activist who has received worldwide recognition for her efforts to fight climate change. Who Is Greta Thunberg?  Greta Thunberg is a Swedish climate youth activist who sparked an international movement to fight climate change beginning in 2018. With the simple message "School strike for climate" handwritten on poster board, Thunberg began skipping school on Fridays and protesting outside the Swedish Parliament. Thanks to social media, her actions have spread and influenced millions of young people all over the world to organize and protest. Launching "Fridays For Future," Thunberg and other concerned youths throughout Europe have continued to pressure leaders and lawmakers to act on climate change through their regular walkouts. Thunberg has also traveled the world, meeting with global leaders and speaking at assemblies to demand climate solutions and a recommitment to the Paris Agreement. Recently diagnosed with Asperger...
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A revolutionary team of climbers makes history on Everest.

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  History was made on the world’s highest peak when seven members of the  Full Circle Everest  expedition—along with eight Nepali guides—reached the summit of  Mount Everest . On the morning of May 12, 2022, the team made it to  Chomolungma , the Tibetan name for Mount Everest, which means “Goddess Mother of the World.”  Since the first documented ascent of the peak in 1953, only 10 Black climbers had reached the summit. The Full Circle team, comprised entirely of Black climbers, hopes that its success will inspire a new generation of explorers from all backgrounds.  Now, after years of preparation leading to success, this team of climbers hopes its achievement will change the perception of mountaineering as a non inclusive sport and persuade more Black people to embrace wilderness adventures. Most Everest expeditions typically aim to make summit between the first and third weeks of May, when snowstorms are less likely and wind speeds are normally belo...
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