Student Guide Corner

    Recently, I have had several people ask me if I would send them an email when I post a new entry here on my teaching blog.  I am more than happy to do that.   If you send your email address to Jhoyle@richmond.edu , I�ll drop you a note whenever a new entry goes up.   I will not sell your email addresses or send out spam.   You will only get an occasional note that I have added more of my thoughts to this teaching blog. ** Many years ago I was called to serve on jury duty.   For an entire week, I hung out around the courthouse trying to stay awake.  I was bored to death and felt like the experience was the ultimate waste of time.   At the end of that long miserable week, the judge called us in to dismiss the group.   He took a few minutes to describe all of the many things that the court had managed to accomplish during the week and it was amazing.   As I remember it, hundreds of cases had been ...

Do you spend a lot of time searching for the most effective apps/extensions for your students? With thousands to choose from, how do you decide? The web is filled with collections of recommended apps for special education. Some of the "Best of" lists are better than others. Some are categorized using a system that is difficult to follow. Some Top Ten Apps for Special Education include apps for the widest possible range of special needs, rendering the author's recommendation of the top ten apps meaningless. Instead, I've compiled helpful collections of resources for educators working with students with special needs. Here are recommendations I believe to be excellent compilations of apps and extensions to use with students with special needs: Apps for Special Education   - compiled by  Spectronics . An extensive list with detailed information about each recommended app Friendship Circle Apps - Excellent app reviews and recommendations by category - Com...

Greetings!!    I trust you are ready for a wonderful new school year.    At this time of the year, I always feel like I can leave my mistakes from the previous semester behind and start anew with refreshed hope and enthusiasm.    To celebrate the new year, I wanted to discuss two words that I believe can make anyone a better classroom teacher.     Not immediately, but over the course of a semester or two.    I am not sure that anything works immediately.    Progress has to be slow and steady. ** Word One Back in August of 2014, I wrote a blog entry that mentioned the following article from The Chronicle of Higher Education.    http://chronicle.com/article/Confuse-Students-to-Help-Them/148385/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en I just think the importance of confusing students cannot be over-emphasized and is worth a second look. I define �lecturer� as someone who does 80 percent or more of the tal...