Classrooms that teach a broad range of close reading skills are not only rich with texts but host a wide range of types of texts, from traditional to digital to hyperlinked to hybrid, writes ELA teacher Jason DeHart. Critical student thinking needs to occur in all these spaces.
Mona Iehl’s students were shocked when she first asked them to grapple with math problems BEFORE they received instruction. Then, to her surprise, “they got out the blocks, and drew pictures, and tried!” Her trust in productive struggle grew as she saw their confidence increase.
This January, don’t hastily jump on the bandwagon with the latest decorating fad. Design a place where students want to learn and grow. Your classroom environment may be one of the most powerful tools in your teaching toolbox, writes teacher and former marketer Kelly Owens.
Sean Ruday and Katie Caprino show that by centering students in assessment, literacy instruction can be tailored to meet their needs and asssure their learning is more authentic and relevant. Theresa Wood says the book is a blueprint to “put the verb back into ‘teacher’.”
Markham Woods Middle School in Lake Mary, FL was searching for a careers-oriented STEM program that would appeal to the “multitude of talents” among its students and help improve the climate of a divided school. Biomechatronics has achieved both objectives, says AP Eric Basilo.
With so many daily classes, the working memories of adolescents get overloaded. Their evolving brains have not yet developed fluent coping strategies. To teach students to handle all the inflow, two experts share UDL strategies that build executive function and self-regulation.
Using their own experiences with classroom libraries and ideas from other professionals, Colby Sharp and Donalyn Miller provide insight, wisdom, and actionable practices for teachers in The Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library. Katie Durkin highly recommends it.
Fresh off seeing U2 in concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Stephanie Farley is still savoring the experience by describing it to others. New research says students can learn better and enjoy school more by savoring their own favorite memories. Farley shares some strategies.
Anne Jolly is thankful for so many remarkable STEM educators – willing to step out and try new cutting-edge ideas and practices, take risks, and educate kids in ways that grow skills, knowledge and leadership. Jolly explains why industry respects STEM teachers and students too.
The authors of Shifting the Balance (Grades 3-5) invite literacy educators in the upper elementary and early middle grades to “engage in both the headwork and the heartwork required to ensure our practices are science-aligned and student-centered.” And do it in a safe space.
