Supports for ELs / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Valentina Gonzalez · Published 09/10/2018 · Last modified 05/24/2022
Your English learners need some extra scaffolds and supports to level the playing field. They are learning a new language while navigating content at the same time. EL specialist Valentina Gonzalez highlights 18 ways that you can help support them in their journey.
Megan Kelly always intends to integrate poetry across her units, but somehow ends up scrambling each year as National Poetry Month approaches. This fall she has a list of activities to hold herself accountable. Try some of her ideas in your own ELA, history, science or math classes.
Heart of the School / School Climate
by Rita Platt · Published 08/27/2018 · Last modified 12/02/2019
A strong positive school climate is essential for learning and assuring a happy workplace. One way to interrupt that healthy climate is rude behavior, which tends to ripple out and have lasting negative impacts. Principal Rita Platt shares strategies to repel rudeness.
Despite the success of last spring’s well informed debates in her 8th grade U.S. History classes, Sarah Cooper is taking an indefinite break from the no-holds-barred, winner-takes-all style of discussion in favor of more collaborative, consensus building strategies.
A new school year brings excitement and organizational challenges. Expert Frank Buck suggests ways to streamline online communications, simplify classroom policies through teacher collaboration, and help kids develop as responsible members of a purposeful community.
Adolescents need ongoing opportunities to think deeply about what honesty and integrity mean to them and to help them align their choices with their beliefs. Debbie Silver shares ways to counter cultural and classroom messages that might make kids feel it’s okay to cheat.
Every summer educators ask these questions: (1) How can we lessen summer learning loss? and (2) How can we help build students’ SEL skills? Sarah Tantillo and Meredith Murray share the story of a Summer Bridge program and some useful resources to address both questions.
When it comes to vocabulary instruction, teachers have many, many questions, for example: “How can I fit vocabulary in? How should I pick the words? What should my quizzes look like?” Literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo provides answers to these questions and more.
Rubrics should clarify both teacher and student thinking, writes classroom assessment expert Rick Wormeli. They can help mentor students as they analyze and reflect on their work, but there are cautions in their use that effective teachers will take time to investigate.
When teachers think of learning centers, we often identify them with K-3 classrooms. Katherine McKnight shows how the model can be expanded and adapted for middle schoolers, incorporating the essentials of collaborative learning, content knowledge acquisition, and more.
