April, 2018 - Horizon Academy

Archive

Making It Without Faking It

April 30, 2018

Written by Mrs. Denning, Upper Team Teacher   “Fake it 'til you make it.” It's a phrase I heard repeatedly during my college days, and I have heard it throughout my career, as well. I definitely agree that you can't always wait until you're completely confident with something before you give it a try; after all, a lot of things would just never get done! However, simply moving forward when you don't understand will not increase your understanding or your confidence.   The past few years as a Horizon teacher have truly pulled me out of my comfort zone and into…

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Multisensory Math:  A More Effective Approach To Teaching Math

April 18, 2018

Written by Ms. Jones, Upper Team Teacher This year, I’ve had an amazing opportunity to take both the Multisensory Math I and II classes taught by Marilyn Zecher from the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center (ASDEC).   These classes revolutionized my perspective in teaching math. They are designed to help teachers develop multisensory math instruction using the Concrete-Representational-Abstract Approach (CRA Approach).  This approach is based on the following teaching principles from Samuel Orton: Instruction should be systematic, cumulative, diagnostic, simultaneous, multisensory and explicit.   The CRA Approach emphasizes that instruction starts with simple or concrete concepts and progresses to the complex…

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Smart Is as Smart Does

April 2, 2018

 Written by Mrs. Semro, Middle Team Teacher You can be smarter.  You can learn to be a smarter person.  Sound good? It certainly would to most people.  Intelligence is highly valued in our society, even revered.  Why wouldn’t it be? Intelligence is equated with success, thus a handy quality to bring to the table in any situation.  It would seem that if someone is smart, they are always smart, and they should automatically be successful. This concept is referred to as a fixed mindset, a belief in fixed intelligence.   In reality, research is showing us that when it comes to…

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