Welcome to the next issue in a new series on the Heinemann blog! Every week we find around five interesting links for you to take into your much deserved weekend. These links are interviews with educators, posts from our authors' and friends' blogs, and any interesting, newsworthy item from the past seven days. Check back each week for a new round of finds!
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In Larry Ferlazzo's EdWeek blog, Heinemann author ReLeah Lent responded to the question, "What are 'Small Learning Communities' (dividing large campuses into special interest small schools) and how do they work?"
Strong support networks and personalized attention are generally hallmarks of any smaller community, components of learning that are especially important if there is little support at home. Students often develop lasting relationships not only with other students, but with teachers and community partners. In one school, for example, the local bar association created a law library at the school and offered internships during the summer for students in the law academy. If project-based, interdisciplinary learning is a component of study, as it often is, students have increased opportunities to apply what they've learned and prepare for college and career in authentic ways.
Click through to read Classroom Q&A with Larry Ferlazzo: "Response: The Value of 'Small Learning Communities.'"
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Author Donalyn Miller wrote about summer reading as its own reward and the 7th Annual #Bookaday Challenge:
Summer liberates my reading and writing life, too. I indulge in reading and writing binges instead of snatching time in between other things. I dream of languid days curled up under my ceiling fan—reading and writing for as long as I wish. Delicious as eating peaches over the sink.
Click through to read more from "Reading Is Its Own Reward: Summer Reading and the 7th Annual #Bookaday Challenge."
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On Dr. Gravity Goldberg's blog, Laura Harder, a 4th grade teacher, wrote about self-reflection and how it empowers her students:
Teachers’ feedback is certainly valuable and informative, however, listening to the student’s talk about their own progress while reading through their opinion pieces from the beginning of the year, gave them a sense of empowerment that ultimately needed to come from within themselves.
Click through to read "Self Reflection: A Tool For Empowering Students."
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On LitLearnAct, author Dana Johansen discussed how to use QR Codes in the Writing Workshop:
About three years ago, I began using a blended learning approach to teaching writing and reading workshop with QR codes and mobile devices such as iPads and smart phones. Over the years I have found that using QR codes and my class website has helped connect my students to our discussions and coursework through their mobile devices and computers.
Click through to read "QR Codes in Writing Workshop (Part 1)"
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So this came today. Honored to be on a mailer with the amazing & unstoppable @colleen_cruz . Thanks @HeinemannPub pic.twitter.com/woA6QKVqL2
— Lisa Eickholdt (@LisaEickholdt) May 6, 2015
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Check back next week for more interesting links. Do you write a blog about your experiences in education? Leave a link in the comments below and we'll consider it for future round-ups. Have a great weekend!
