The Todd Cast - Teaching Theory into Teaching Practice

It's OK to Fail - Some of life's biggest lessons comes from the mistakes we make. We do something, it does not work, and we learn what to do differently the next time. In classrooms though we do not always provide the space for students to make mistakes because when they do, they are punished either with a bad grade, told it is the WRONG answer, or made to feel as though they should be embarrassed...

Teaching Empathy - How do you teach empathy in your classroom? That is the question for this week's ToddCast. Strategies as complex as community service projects and reading books about sympathy, to more simple ones such as having students work in groups or modeling kind behavior yourself, can be used to help students understand what empathy is and to practice using it.

Social and Emotional Learning - Sure, schools do a pretty decent job of addressing the academic needs of their students, but how much attention is paid to helping these children meet their social and emotional needs? We need to be more intentional and transparent when it comes to showing students how to manage their emotions and social issues, otherwise they will not be able to work up to their po...

Teaching Problem Solving - The ability to problem solve is a skill that is greatly valued in the real-world because that is what life is, a series of problems that must be solved. From mundane problems to what are we having for dinner to those on a global scale such as hunger, we spend much of our personal and professional lives trying to solve problems. Those who are good at it, like Steve Jobs a...

Teaching Creativity - We ask students to be creative all of the time but are we explicitly teaching our students how to be creative by giving them assignments that lets them access their creative thinking? This ToddCast will provide 5 practical strategies that can be used in the classroom that allows students to tap into their creativity.

Goal Valuation - The best way to combat student underachievement is to have a good understanding of what goal valuation is. Goal valuation is the value a student puts on three goals to determine whether they are going to achieve at the level they are capable of. The three goals are interesting, important, and attainable. For some students, just having one of these is good enough for them to give i...

Gifted Pull Out - Another method of grouping gifted students is the use of a gifted pullout or resource room. This is when you take a group of students identified as gifted in a certain area and pull them from the regular classroom in order to work with a gifted specialist. It is this teacher's goal then to challenge these students in a way that they are not getting in their regular classroom. Thi...

Magnet Programs - There are lots of different ways to group gifted students. One of these is through a magnet program where students are pulled from all over to one location. There are several advantages to this including making it easier for the teacher to meet the needs of similar ability children, putting your professional development and collaboration in one spot, and gathering like-minded chi...

Cluster Grouping - Cluster grouping is a method for gifted services where you cluster all of the gifted students in a particular subject area into one classroom. You then fill the rest of the classroom with above average and average students. What this does is narrows the gap of abilities in the classroom, making it easier for the teacher to differentiate and meet the specific needs of students. T...

Push-In or Co-Teaching Gifted - Another strategy for the grouping of gifted students is the use of the gifted specialist as a co-teaching where they push into the regular education classroom, providing specialized services for gifted students. In order for this to work, it has to be a true co-teaching set up where the regular education and the gifted specialist are not only teaching together, but...

Inquiry-Based Learning - What if we let the students be responsible for most of the learning in class? That is the basic premise behind inquiry-based learning where the content is not given to the kids by the teacher but rather generated and discovered on their own. This teaches students self-efficacy and empowers them to be learners with the idea of taking this skill into their own lives.

Exercising the Brain - The brain is just like a muscle that needs exercised regularly if it is going to develop and get stronger. How you can exercise the brain is by cognitively challenging it using puzzles. Puzzles such as SuDoku, brainteasers, logic puzzles, cryptograms, and riddles can cause one to think and thus exercise the brain. This tutorial introduces five different types of puzzles you...

Bloom's Taxonomy - Benjamin Bloom created a taxonomy for the various levels of questioning and thinking back in 1953. Now, 70 years later his taxonomy still very much resonates in the classrooms of the 21st century. Learn how to use the various levels of Bloom's and the advantage to doing so.

The Caring Factor - In this ToddCast I talk about one of the most important things teachers can do to make an impact on their students and that is to show you care. I call this the caring factor and it displays itself not only in academics, but in social/emotional needs as well.

Right Brain vs. Left Brain - We have two sides to our brain and although everyone uses both sides, most tend to lean to one side or another. If you are left brained dominant you typically are a logical learner and prefer math and science. If you are right brained, you are a visual learner who likes to your imagination. This person prefers writing and other arts. Figuring out which side of their br...

Overexcitabilities - Overexcitabilities are when someone becomes overwhelmed with their social and emotional needs. This may present itself in psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and emotional. This can lead to all sorts of difficulties when it comes to learning. If a student is worried about something happening to people half way across the world or if she cannot concentrate becaus...

Bright vs. Gifted - There are students who are bright and high achievers, there are students who are gifted, and there are students that are both. But we need to keep in mind not all gifted students are high achievers and not all bright students are gifted. Knowing the difference between these two can be very important in understanding how to teach these children. This ToddCast discusses the major...

Myths of Gifted Children - There are myths about gifted children that prevent us from addressing their needs and helping them to reach their potential. Myths such as they love school and get straight A's or that they are good at everything, cause some to believe gifted students will be OK without any specialized services. The truth is, many will not as nearly 25% of all high school dropouts are gi...

My child is gifted...now what? - This episode walks parents through what it means now that their child has been identified as gifted and how to have a conversation with them about what it means to be gifted.