Golden Apple September, 2018
by Diana Knudson
The Golden Triangle hosted Dr. Marcia Tate at a Fall get together at the Heritage Inn in Great Falls. 450 teachers and administrators attended and by all feedback, we had a great day. We host a national speaker every other year, and this was the second time we have been fortunate enough to listen to Dr. Tate. If you could not attend, I highly recommend Marcia Tate’s books. Her first training focused on “Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites” and this year’s presentation focused on “Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites.” These are also the title of two of her books.
Dr. Tate presented the Twenty Strategies that take advantage of how the brain learns best. I guarantee that if your students are sitting still for an hour lecture anytime during the school day, these strategies are not being used. She then taught us how to set up a reactive classroom versus a proactive classroom based on knowledge about how today’s brain is different. She went on to teach us the elements of a brain-based environment—the most calming and the worst high energy situations. The afternoon featured reasons students disrupt and how to use low-profile interventions. Ms. Tate then addressed the category of students with chronic behavior disorders—how to identify the categories and then possible solutions.
I left feeling that many things can be done to ensure student engagement, a term we hear much about today. Dr. Tate gives practical, transformational, and brain-based strategies that do not take rocket science to implement in all classrooms. Thank you for motivating and enlightening us, Dr. Marcia Tate.
We had a great summer with 23 two-day college credit classes that served around 450 teachers. Then, fifty teachers came to our New Teacher Orientation that is always a highlight for me.
Time for a drawing. Send your name to Brianna so we can enter it in the drawing for a $100 gift card. We will hold the drawing on September 30.
Web Resources, Grants, & Other News...
Edcamp Big Sky is Saturday, October 27, 2018, at Meadowlark Elementary in Bozeman. This free event is open to all educators from preK to higher education. 6 OPI renewal units will be offered to camp attendees. In 2017, 160 educators from across Montana and other states attended the event. Registration is required to attend. Visit the event's website below for registration details and more information. http://edcampbigsky.weebly.com/