Close Reading the Media / News Literacy
by Frank Baker · Published 08/07/2019 · Last modified 11/20/2019
With the 2020 election underway fake news and deceptive social media posts and imagery are expected to become commonplace. Media literacy expert Frank Baker offers a lesson to help our always-connected students acquire some of the “healthy skepticism” skills they’ll need.
Clustering / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Tan Huynh · Published 08/04/2019 · Last modified 12/02/2019
Instead of peppering English learners around a large network of schools, districts can benefit those students and their EL support teachers by strategically clustering them, writes Tan Huynh. Included: Ideas to help achieve buy-in from content teachers.
6th grade teacher Amanda Xavier was skeptical when colleague Rose Reissman suggested a Mary Poppins book study, but their multimedia approach was a hit. “If a very old fashioned nanny can bring smiles and make modern kids sit up in class and take note, I say, ‘Cheerio’!”
Bridging the gap between “real STEM study” and how school stakeholders may understand it is a doable task for teachers, says expert Anne Jolly. She offers some elevator-speech essentials to get you started (and perhaps avoid that virtual lab that could be in your future).
Jennifer Serravallo’s new book on reading conferences is a must-have if you’re ready to up your teaching game during independent reading time, writes Rita Platt. Her organized approach and bonus online resources provide everything teachers need to have quality conferences.
Maker-Centered Learning: Empowering Young People to Shape Their Worlds provides a well-organized and well referenced look at the role of maker-centered learning and offers a perspective that is different from that of the popular press, writes educator Laura Von Staden.
NBCT and new principal Rita Platt shares the five beliefs that make up her teaching philosophy and serve as the framework of her new book Working Hard, Working Happy. Learn what she “knows to be true about teaching and learning” and why you might want a credo of your own.
Want to help middle school students improve their reading skills? Mark Weakland suggests providing direct and explicit spelling instruction. Emphasizing syllables – roots and affixes – offers lots of building blocks for students. Weakland includes differentiation tips and activity ideas.
Summer Growth / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 07/07/2019 · Last modified 11/13/2019
Teaching coach and NBCT Elizabeth Stein shows how to create a space that will keep co-teachers learning together throughout the rest of summer, concentrating on what we can do to refresh ourselves AND continue improving and learning in preparation for a productive fall.
Beyond the Textbook / Future of History
by Lauren S. Brown · Published 06/25/2019 · Last modified 12/02/2019
History is not just the causes of the Civil War, reasons for industrial growth, or dates associated with “big events” and major characters. Lauren Brown works to help her middle schoolers understand it’s about ordinary, often archetypal lives of human beings much like us.
