Author Results for: Alice Thomas
Strategies For Managing Language Challenges
By Glenda Thorne, Alice Thomas and Candy Lawson
There are many strategies that will help a student with language problems. A few are listed below.
1. Take the Mystery Away
Teach the student about language and language strategies. Help the student understand his/her own language strengths and challenges. This process is sometimes called demystification – taking the mystery […]
Read More....What Can A Student Do To Increase His/Her Attention?
By Glenda Thorne, Ph.D. and Alice Thomas, M.Ed.
Attention Self-Test (Designed primarily for the junior high school student; statements may be adjusted for younger or older students.) Directions: Circle one number for each question. Key 0 Never 1 Sometimes 2 Often 3 Always
1. In conversations with friends or when the teacher […]
Read More....How Minds Work: The Key To Motivation, Learning, And Thinking
By Alice Thomas
All children are motivated. However, not all children are motivated about that which we want them to be motivated. (The same is true for adults.) How, then, do we keep students in our classrooms motivated and engaged?
The underlying knowledge a teacher must have to orchestrate differentiated instruction day after day, hour after hour, […]
Read More....Retention Is Not The Answer!
by Alice Thomas
It’s that time of year…again. And…if we keep doing the same thing over and over, we will keep getting the same results.
For over 40 years, study after study on grade retention has reached the same conclusion: Failing a student, particularly in the critical ninth grade year, is the single largest predictor of whether […]
Read More....How To Increase Higher Level Thinking
By Alice Thomas and Glenda Thorne
Most of us don’t think about thinking – we just do it. But educators, parents, and legislators have been thinking more about thinking, and thinking about how we want teachers to teach our students to think.
As students move from elementary to middle to high school, they are asked by their […]
Read More....Language, Learning And A Place Called School: Learning Language And Using Language To Learn
By Alice Thomas and Glenda Thorne
In school as in life, the main way that ideas are exchanged is through language. So it becomes essential for a child to master language if he is to succeed at this place called school and a journey called life.
Kids who are “naturally” adept at language seem to master language […]
Read More....What Is Attention?
By Glenda Thorne and Alice Thomas
Attention Quick Facts
Paying attention is the first step in the learning process.
Everybody fails to pay attention sometimes, but some people fail to pay attention a lot.
Not paying attention to what you are doing can be a problem for both children and adults. For example, not listening to the directions in […]
What Are Some Problems With Attention?
By Glenda Thorne and Alice Thomas
Alertness and Arousal
Deficits in alertness and arousal to having a reticular activating system can be compared to a “stuck” thermostat. The alert and arousal thermostat will not turn completely up in the morning so that we are optimally alert and aroused and will not turn down sufficiently at night so […]
Read More....Is Attention Related To Motivation?
By Alice Thomas and Glenda Thorne
Q: Is attention related to motivation?
A: Yes. In our work with teachers, we frequently ask, “In your experience, what are the most common impediments to student achievement in your classrooms?” Almost without fail, at the top or near the top of the list is the big “M” word: MOTIVATION. […]
Read More....How To Answer Children’s Questions…In A Way That Promotes Higher Level Thinking
By Alice Thomas
Parents and teachers can do a lot to encourage higher level thinking, even when they are answering children’s questions. According to Dr. Robert Sternberg, a professor of psychology and education at Yale University, answers to children’s questions can be categorized into seven levels, from low to high, in terms of encouraging higher levels […]
Read More....Newsletter
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