August #2
Classes begin tomorrow. I've tried to make sure there are no conflicts in the schedules, that all transfers have been checked, all the good stuff. I spent two daze downtown going over all the State Department rules and regulations and how to be effective about the affective needs of bright students after a half-day with the other Hoover Enrichment teachers, going over the same things! I'm READY!

This year...
First, I really want my students to take a good look at themselves. We will be taking interest inventories*, learning style inventories*, practicing being a Self-Directed-Learner*, looking at what matters to them in the world and developing ways to take charge of it. By December they should have a packet of THEMSELVES that they can bring home to share with you (but I hope they've been sharing & you've been asking about it all along).
Second, in between all of the above, will be an artsy dip into PAPER. We'll start with just folding paper and go from there. Small muscle manual dexterity exercises. You might hear words like foldables, origami, kiragami, pop-ups, automata, & quilling and catch your child folding napkins or scraps of paper or jazzing up a report with a touch of color. Of course this also includes all the things you can do ON paper - Splodges!, printing, drawing, painting, resist...the list is endless! Wait till they get to design Holiday Cards! I anticipate that they will knock your socks (stockings??) off!! ANY paper you can part with will be accepted gladly. Pretty stationary or scraps of gift wrap? Newspapers, especially the comic sections? Tissue? Thin cardboard or card stock? Used scrap paper (works great for practice pieces)!! Do you parents have any paper expertise you would like to share?? Let me know! Come visit!! We may even make paper, that depends on their interest.


*Interest Inventory: Taking a look at what THEY want to know about and facilitating their journey to finding out more.
*Learning Style Inventory: When a student is aware of HOW they learn, how they best receive information, they can accommodate when the delivery of information isn't a best fit. For example, one of my styles is as a visual learner - that is, I like to SEE it. That means I learn best by reading or watching a movie or seeing someone do something. So when I have to sit through a lecture (and LISTEN) I have ways I accommodate to make it more of a visual (& therefore more accessible to my brain) experience. And then I have to DO it, feel how it's done, in a more physical/kinestetic style. The whole thing is METACOGNITION - thinking about how you think & working for your own best interest.
*Self-Directed-Learner: a student, of ANY age, who takes responsibility for following an interest or a need to know and, by doing so, can learn just about ANYTHING they want! AND I know YOU are modeling this sort of behavior for your children!!

Come get SPOTTED at Riverchase! More SOON!
XXOO!!
Mrs. Mac
"Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back." ~~ Chinese Proverb