Lisa Eickholdt and Patty Vitale-Reilly’s favorite student collaboration is the Writing Club – an opportunity for kids to write in authentic, engaging, and creative ways. They prepare a foundation for this work with read-alouds, feedback structures, partnering activities, and more.
Literacy consultant Anne Anderson recommends fellow literacy teachers and coaches keep Dan Feigelson’s Radical Listening near at hand. Implementing the book’s detailed guidelines for active listening during reading and writing conferences will benefit all of your learners.
Consultants Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn counsel that dealing with change promptly, engaging actively in social media, and achieving work-life balance are central tasks that will help school leaders not only survive but also thrive as they run this year’s marathon.
Fresh teaching ideas engulf math teachers each fall. Which strategies take priority as we seek to help students have the best year ever? Teacher and coach Mona Iehl recommends three: build classroom community, review and augment resources, and select engaging lesson formats.
Geraldine Woods offers strategies for teachers to design and implement a self-contained independent study program or to incorporate principles of independent study into an existing unit or class. Sarah Cooper finds the book’s efficacy lies in its wide, practical application.
In this unprecedented school year, as teachers and school leaders set goals and decide what to keep and what to change, Lynne Dorfman and Aileen Hower argue that “it is social-emotional learning – not academics – that should be the focus for the first month of school.”
Laurie Lichtenstein’s travels to Holocaust sites this summer “had an indescribable emotional impact.” And now, “within this new consciousness resides a deeper understanding of history and an enthusiasm that I hope is infectious as I re-enter my classroom this school year.”
Stephanie Filio’s Responding to Student Trauma: A Toolkit for Schools in Times of Crisis provides a well-developed framework for school personnel to handle four sources of trauma. AP Virginia Hornberger notes it is a good starting point to develop a crisis plan of action.
Language specialist Tan Huynh offers a framework called the 3 C’s of Equity – Community, Curriculum and Culture – to guide schools on the journey to provide an equitable learning experience for their multilingual learners. To start, avoid deficit-based models that segregate.
Whether you are a classroom veteran or a new teacher in your first room, Katie Durkin urges you to think about how you can repurpose, redesign, and rejuvenate your learning space so you feel fresh and ready to tackle the many opportunities for growth this coming school year.
