Engaging All Learners

Engaging All Learners
Studio Day April 2019

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Congratulations to Dr. Jeter!

Paine Intermediate Principal Autumm Jeter was elected Vice President of the Alabama Association of Elementary School Principals for a four year term - Vice President, Vice President Elect, President and Past-President. Dr. Jeter will remain on the CLAS Board, also.  We are proud to have one of TCS's administrators serving in this prestigious position.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

From the Huffington Post: Ten Things You Should Do Everyday to Improve Your Life

Click here to read more.

1) Get out in nature
Being in nature reduces stress, makes you more creative, improves your memory and may even make you a better person.

2) Exercise
We all know how important this is, but few people do it consistently. Other than health benefits too numerous to mention, exercise makes you smarter, happier, improves sleep, and makes you feel better about your body.

3) Spend time with friends and family
Not feeling socially connected can make you stupider and kill you. Loneliness can lead to heart attack, stroke and diabetes. The longest lived people on the planet all place a strong emphasis on social engagement and good relationships are more important to a long life than even exercise. Friends are key to improving your life. Share good news and enthusiastically respond when others share good news with you to improve your relationships. Want to instantly be happier? Do something kind for them.

4) Express gratitude
It will make you happier.
It will improve your relationships.
It can make you a better person.
It can make life better for everyone around you.

5) Meditate
Meditation can increase happiness, meaning in life, social support and attention span while reducing anger, anxiety, depression and fatigue. Along similar lines, prayer can make you feel better — even if you’re not religious.

6) Get enough sleep
You can’t cheat yourself on sleep and not have it affect you. Being tired actually makes it harder to be happy. Lack of sleep = more likely to get sick. “Sleeping on it” does improve decision making. Lack of sleep can make you more likely to behave unethically. There is such a thing as beauty sleep.

Naps are great too. Naps increase alertness and performance on the job, enhance learning ability and purge negative emotions while enhancing positive ones. Here’s how to improve your naps.

7) Challenge yourself
Learning another language can keep your mind sharp. Music lessons increase intelligence. Increasing willpower just takes a little effort each day and it’s more responsible for your success than IQ. Not getting an education or taking advantage of opportunities are two of the things people look back on their lives and regret the most.

8) Laugh
People who use humor to cope with stress have better immune systems, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, experience less pain during dental work and live longer. Laughter should be like a daily vitamin. Just reminiscing about funny moments can improve your relationship. Humor has many benefits.

9) Touch someone
Touching can reduce stress, improve team performance, and help you be persuasive. Hugs make you happier.

 10) Be optimistic
Optimism can make you healthier, happier and extend your life. The Army teaches it in order to increase mental toughness in soldiers. Being overconfident improves performance.


Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Application to Present

Mountain Brook Schools
2015 Summer Learning Conference-Application to Present
July 20-22, 2015
Hosted by Mountain Brook High School


Mountain Brook Schools invites colleagues to submit proposals to present at MBS’ annual learning conference, themed, “The Metamorphosis Project.” We are seeking engaging presentations that empower teachers to transform their teaching by blending instruction and technology. Proposals should model effective and practical strategies to use in today’s classroom.




Monday, March 2, 2015

Edutopia's Five Highly Effective Teaching Practices

Educational researcher John Hattie has spent more than 15 years researching the influences on achievement of K-12 children. His findings linked student outcomes to several highly effective classroom practices. Click  here to read about five of those practices.

1. Teacher Clarity

2. Classroom Discussion

3. Feedback

4. Formative Assessments

5. Metacognitive Strategies




Sunday, March 1, 2015

Recruiting Day at University of Montevallo

TCS administrators visit colleges and universities each year with the goal of recruiting the brightest and best college graduates.  Lisa Berry and Autumm Jeter visited with prospective teachers at the University of Montevallo on Friday.