The Positive Impact of Teaching Higher Order Thinking Skills – April 2015
The students in Meryl Taylor's 5th grade self-contained classroom are busy constructing higher order thinking questions and engaging each other with these questions during classroom discussion. They are proud of their ability to challenge each other to think more deeply about topics and are showing more confidence during student-led discussions.
How EDI Lesson Planning improves Learning – March 2015
Samantha Gibbons, Reading Specialist at Greenburgh Academy says, “Students in my self-contained class, ranging in age from 12 to 15, often find staying on task for an entire lesson a significant challenge. However, when I developed a lesson using the EDI Lesson Plan template, the students were engaged and excited the entire period. By the end of the lesson every student demonstrated mastery of the literary strategy that was taught!Increasing Learning through Active Engagement Strategies – February 2015
Elizabeth Peralta from Scholastic Academy in Yonkers City Schools sees her students becoming excited, actively engaged and self-directed in their learning.Behavioral Improvements through Self-Monitoring – November 2014
Brett Sloane from Valley Cottage Elementary in Nyack shared that a student at the school was exhibiting highly problematic behavior on the bus and not responding to any of the consequences. Serious consideration was being given to permanently removing the student from the bus. However, the staff decided to implement a new set of strategies based on positive behavioral supports. According to the coach, “What a turnaround!! His behavior on the bus improved dramatically and he became a model bus student!”Staying On-Task with Routines and Responding – May 2014
At Foxfire School in Yonkers, teachers Ivan Vasquez and Lucia Ricciardi have seen their students, especially students with disabilities, blossom in response to some explicit teaching strategies they are implementing. The students show increased focus and on-task behavior. Ivan has seen a reduction in anxiety as students learn that every one of them will have to respond, every one of them will make mistakes, but every one of them will be supported in arriving at the correct response. Lucia has seen a significant increase in student engagement and participation and in students’ ability to answer critical thinking questions, to dig deeper into the text and to share their findings with each other.