by Laura Maniglia | Mar 14, 2021 | attention & focus, cognitive skills, instruction, intrinsic motivation, mindset, montessori, student engagement, students, waldorf Schools
Intrinsic motivation is defined as performing an action or behavior because you enjoy the activity itself. What are the essential components comprising intrinsic motivation, and how can educators spark that flame in their students? One of the critical goals of...
by Laura Maniglia | Mar 8, 2021 | active learning, attention & focus, cognitive skills, instruction, language, reading
My previous blog stressed the importance of vocabulary acquisition and called for a return of intentional vocabulary study. One of the key indicators of students’ success in school, on standardized tests, and indeed, in life, is their vocabulary. The focus...
by Laura Maniglia | Mar 1, 2021 | academic standing, active learning, instruction, language, learning, public schools, reading, study skills
Vocabulary is an integral part of literacy. A good vocabulary promotes comprehension and communication. Vocabulary size predicts comprehension. According to W.B Elley, Emeritus professor of Education, Vocabulary is the best single indicator of intellectual ability...
by Laura Maniglia | Feb 3, 2021 | Tutorial
The College Board, makers of the SAT, recently announced significant changes effective in the spring: The optional essay will disappear, and Subject Tests will no longer be offered. These changes are the latest in a series of alterations in the test that have occurred...
by Laura Maniglia | Jan 16, 2021 | active learning, attention & focus, cognitive skills, instruction, learning, public schools, student engagement, teachers, testing
Keeping students interested and curious when they are learning is a challenging task under “normal” in-person class situations. So engaging them when they participate in a virtual classroom can be daunting. When students are present, providing opportunities for...
by Laura Maniglia | Jan 10, 2021 | academic standing, instruction, public schools, school calendar, student engagement
The pandemic has had a devastating effect on American students and the entire education system. In a previous blog in the spring, I discussed that this devastating turn of events with the virus could be viewed as a possibility...
by Laura Maniglia | Jan 8, 2021 | attention & focus, classroom management, cognitive skills, instruction, mindset, student engagement, students, study skills, teachers
The ability to learn relates directly to paying attention and focus. So what is the distinction between these two cognitive skills? “Attention is a natural function of the body because individuals are constantly in a state of paying attention to different aspects of...
by Laura Maniglia | Jan 7, 2021 | attention & focus, classroom management, cognitive skills, instruction, metacognition, non-cognitive skills, soft skills, student engagement, students, teachers
One of the foundational elements of effective teaching is personal interactions with students. As John Maxwell advised, “Children don’t care how much you know unless they know how much you care.” In a thoughtful discussion of making distance learning less remote, ...
by Laura Maniglia | Dec 12, 2020 | attention & focus, classroom management, cognitive skills, instruction, mindset, note-taking, student engagement, students, study skills, teachers, Tutorial
The ability to learn relates directly to paying attention and focus. So what is the distinction between these two cognitive skills? “Attention is a natural function of the body because individuals are constantly in a state of paying attention to different aspects of...
by Laura Maniglia | Oct 30, 2020 | instruction, reading, student engagement, students, teachers
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has just released “highlights” of the 2019 score results, clearly a euphemism, for “lowlights” would be a more appropriate term.Unfortunately, the...