In an era of ‘writing to text’ and responding to prompts, students may not eagerly respond to our invitations to “write free!” ELA teacher and cartoonist David Lee Finkle uses an interest based mapping strategy to convince his writers they have something worth writing about.
Design thinking allows students to own the knowledge they’re acquiring by connecting content in meaningful ways to their homes, the activities they engage in, their reasons for learning, their transformative life experiences, and their special attributes. Dr. Lindsay Portnoy explains.
When middle schools see afterschool programs as partners, they help keep kids safe, inspire them to learn, and give parents peace of mind, says Jodi Grant, CEO of Afterschool Alliance. The value added to students’ academic and social-emotional growth may surprise you!
The final bell of the year will soon ring, but teachers still have the opportunity to provide students with encouragement, tools, and an expectation to play, explore, and discover the world outside school. Curtis Chandler’s post overflows with STEM resources to do just that.
Novels about school are rare and often feature a lone heroic teacher defying the odds. Instead, NBCT Roxanna Elden’s fictional account of life at a struggling urban Texas school – “Adequate Yearly Progress” – is funny, often moving, and always authentic. Read Chapter 2.
Count on it, writes STEM educator Anne Jolly, spring is almost here and your students’ energy and concentration are about to start slipping. Nice weather and seasonal events interfere with lesson continuity. How can you snag your kids’ interest again? Citizen science!
When it comes to learning new words, a few minutes goes a long way, says author-consultant Pam Koutrakos. Teachers can jump-start word study at any point in the year. Use her “cycle” strategy to fit vocab into the daily lesson flow and build students’ curiosity about words.
When we plunge into interactive learning, we get curious, look closely, ask questions, hypothesize, jot, mimic, create, play, discover, and draw conclusions. Grammar study with a makerspace mindset can build all these things in, says literacy consultant Patty McGee.
As a strong believer in teacher as learner, Rita Platt returns to some books again and again – books that continue to guide her work though she may have first read them 20 years ago. With the new school year underway, she shares her 10 most impactful education books.
As summer flirts with Labor Day, Laurie Lichtenstein recalls the joys of being her “Summer Me” – a time for long walks and paddling trips, reading books and ignoring lists. As school dreams begin again, she relishes her last August days and plans for another great year.
