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Teaching /

The Merge Magic

by Christina Lengyel

On Wednesday the 28th, I truly came to understand the impact of the Merge approach while I was at the Chester County Art Association’s Pumpkin Carve.  I have been learning about and working with Merge for a few months now, and I had built up a great deal of enthusiasm for the program.  It is [...]

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Different Ways of Learning — First Takes

by Dawn Mehan

Bill’s approach has really helped me to see the different ways in which students learn. You may already know this to be true for the way you learn; you may need to understand a process mentally before diving in … you may need to walk through the experience physically before understanding it mentally … you may [...]

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Mistakes are Really Half Steps: a Refreshing Take on the Learning Process

by Mary Helen Rossi

A lot of us perceive mistakes as problems – or, at best, as opportunities – so when Bill started talking this morning about mistakes really being half steps I became almost gleeful. Half steps towards success! Something that’s necessary to move forward! I was pretty much falling all over myself to make the connections – [...]

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Student Assessments: they make my life easier and make me a better teacher

by Dawn Mehan

I have not experienced myself as a particularly organized person as of yet. So needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled to know that written student assessments from the SETS program were a part of my very inspiring teaching career with MERGE. I have always know that better organization will ideally make me more focused, but [...]

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My Experience with Strengths-based Mentoring

by Dawn Mehan

As I was saying in last week’s post, when I started teaching it quickly seemed that really enjoying teaching would at best be a far off destination and that I, too, would join the other martyrs to tiredly serve the deserving but uncooperative youth. But much has changed for me since then. When I started [...]

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Standards-based Education

by William Rossi

With its focus on a narrow, one dimensional performance, standards-based education not only misses the point, it compounds the mistakes of traditional education by discouraging and repelling those students who can’t relate. One explanation for this is that in its drive to be efficient, standards-based education often approaches students as if they all learn in [...]

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Standards-Based Education (2)

by William Rossi

As I suggested in my first post on standards-based education, the focus on imposed knowledge greatly minimizes students’ chances to develop into whole human beings. Imposed knowledge never becomes real knowledge—that can only come from within a person. By teaching primarily information, education can break the spirits of students who learn differently or have learning [...]

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My Teaching Experience before Strengths-based Mentoring

by Dawn Mehan

Over recent years I have been struck by the feeling that our young people are falling through the cracks. Without ever realizing why until now, I felt disturbed and protective when listening to adults complain about kids being unfocused and withdrawn. At the same time, I have noticed a growing social awareness around the environment, [...]

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