Teaching and learning in grades 4-8
Veteran principal and multi-book author Baruti Kafele takes school leaders on a self-reflective journey to answer his title question by exploring 35 focused and intentional guiding questions. Education leadership professor Frank J. Hagen recommends taking the trip.
Write Think Learn is an easy read for busy educators, challenges teachers and students to examine their attitudes about writing, gives readers a purpose and a desire to write, and will be a go-to reference throughout the school year, says teacher educator Linda Biondi.
What mix of behavior strategies can build happier, higher achieving middle schools? Principal Michael Gaskell shares customized PBIS methods his New Jersey school uses to help students stay in school, develop positive mentor relationships, and achieve greater success.
Imagine the long-term benefits if teachers, schools, and educator prep programs address the issue of mathematical confidence in a systematic and vigorous way. Jerry Burkhart looks at causes of low “math self-esteem” among kids and teachers and outlines potential cures.
Picture books make for great hooks at the beginning of lessons – capturing our attention and get us curious for the learning to come. They can also be perfect tools for introducing Genius Hour concepts. GH evangelists Gallit Zvi and Denise Krebs choose 10 favorites.
Linking one event or person to later developments opens history students up to seeing how pieces of the massive puzzle of the past fit together and how the issues we face today developed. Lauren Brown shares several engaging strategies to help make those connections.
Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp make the case for dedicated independent reading time and choice in books for all students in all schools – and they push back hard against narrow reading spectrums and the misuse of book leveling, writes 6th grade teacher Kevin Hodgson.
In The Pepper Effect, middle school principal and Beatles lover Sean Gaillard draws lessons for educators from the Fab Four and their album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” to create a culture where students can innovate, writes teacher leader Laura Von Staden.
What’s the best way to teach vocabulary? It’s a constant topic among educators, writes Jeremy Hyler, and not just among his fellow ELA colleagues. Every classroom teacher needs to teach academic words. Hyler shares some vocabulary strategies he’s developed over 17 years.
2018 was a bonanza year for STEM, and 2019 holds even more promise. But we face some big challenges to get STEM education where it can fully deliver on its potential. Anne Jolly outlines four areas to radically improve STEM and instruction generally in today’s schools.