Tweets of the Week

Hola! que tal Blogamigos!
This week a diverse mixture of articles. So interesting!
Learning two languages is an advantage. Si, como no! (That's about the extent of my Espanol.)
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/01/30/tln_boutin.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-FB

http://etmbayarea.org/ Education Through Music S F Bay Area

Love music--it can make the learning more palatable for kids, and teachers.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/music-classroom-gaetan-pappalardo

Paul as I think of him

I can't resist a detour for some great music for kids (and kids at heart.) "Accentuate the Positive" is a song that is good advice for all. Paul McCartney just included this in his new CD 'Kisses on the Bottom.'  Its fun to singalong while commuting to work.
http://store.paulmccartney.com/kissesonthebottom/eur.php
 
I remember Perry Como singing this when I was really little. And who knew that the list of artists that have renditions include Peggy Lee, Bing Crosby, Bette Midler, Sam Cooke?

Just for Black History month here are two just-great versions.

Queen of Soul with a swing band

First, Aretha Francklin from 1962,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IP9h40z0sk

And Louis Armstong's swinging rendition recorded for the radio in 1945 for troops during WWII. Probably during the Battle of the Bulge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC7DO-luqYw&feature=related

Good message! and a welcome break in the classroom. And, not to kill the fun, learning the lyrics of this song can help illustrate syllabication.

Great musician, great singer, great human being

 http://www.lyricsdepot.com/Johnny-mercer/accentuate-the-positive.html

Dr. Judy Willis agrees that the arts aide learning. 
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/strategies-executive-functions-arts-judy-willis

 More research on how kids learn... from video games!
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/video-games-learning-student-engagement-judy-willis

Dr. Willis has also been a teacher.
 http://www.edutopia.org/blog/improving-executive-function-judy-willis-md

Don't try to overteach, it just overflows out of the kids' minds.
http://www.edutopia.org/pd-brain-research-judy-willis

"With the help of their teachers, students can develop the skillsets needed to solve problems that have not yet been recognized, analyze information as it becomes rapidly available in the globalized communication systems, and to skillfully and creatively take advantage of the evolving technological advances as they become available." Dr. Judy Willis.
I declare that the quote of the week.
It might be a mouthful, but it is true...our kids are on the brink of an achievement curve not seen since the Renaissance. Hold on to your hats! (As my Grandma used to say!)

No, this is not a self-portrait of either me as student or teacher.

More about humor in the class, how to use is and defuse it. Wow, sounds like I'm rapping.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/educator-sense-of-humor-mark-phillips?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_content=blog&utm_campaign=funnyteaching
I am usually in Seventh Grade classes, so I know all about teaching in the Cartoon Network.

 http://www.edutopia.org/clowning-around
 Of course, none of us were class clowns. Ha!

Don't forget how kids love their Beethoven in the classroom background. When I taught a class for the Severely Handicapped, we played 'Name that Tune' with classical music. It surely seemed the kids were not musically handicapped. We would vote on favorites; Ludwig usually won. An autistic student told me that he didn't like Mozart, except (and he said this perfectly), "Except for 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.'" I respected Mozart more after that. We would monthly have sort of a karaoke with current pop songs. Even students who would never learn to read, would be a singing dynamo. And the kids got their moment in the spotlight; even if the spotlight was with their peers, instructional assistants and special education teacher in a little portable classroom in the back of the middle school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT7_Y1pIBb4

Mozart as a whippersnapper.