As educators reflect on the past year, NBCT Elizabeth Stein shares insights from co-teachers in her coaching circle who are grateful for the support they received from one another. She encourages all of us to rest, relax, and find ways to carry forward our own silver linings.
Amid all the other challenges of pandemic education, principal Rita Platt has noticed an uptick in communication breakdowns between teachers and parents this year. Platt relates several stories that prompted her to share some parent/teacher do’s and don’ts with staff.
What if a STEM project became a product kids make for actual use? Anne Jolly shows how industry’s Product Design Process (PDP) expands upon the familiar engineering design popular in STEM classes, giving students new skills as they move from prototypes to the marketplace.
Coteaching / Learning Styles / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 04/20/2021 · Last modified 08/02/2023
When it comes to learning preferences, NBCT Elizabeth Stein recommends finding a flexible balance. Encourage students to let teachers know how they feel they can best learn in a given situation, while also challenging them to strengthen their ability to learn in other ways.
Principal and NBCT Rita Platt shares advice for a paradigm shift away from obsessive coverage of content and toward deep and differentiated learning for students who have lived through the months of pandemic schooling. Three questions help us understand what’s essential.
Student discipline is high on the job description of most assistant principals. After three years as an AP, here’s what DeAnna Miller has learned about this essential aspect of working with kids: (1) use it as a teachable moment, (2) make it fair, and (3) love them anyway.
Close Reading the Media / Visual Literacy
by Frank Baker · Published 03/16/2021 · Last modified 03/17/2021
So much of our world is visual. Helping students learn how to “read” images and detect fakery and manipulation should be part of a 21st century education. Media literacy expert Frank Baker shares lots of ideas, insights and resources to get teachers and students started.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, middle grades teacher Kasey Short offers a list of nonfiction and fiction books representing a wide range of girl’s and women’s voices and experiences. All students benefit from reading about smart, brave women who make positive impacts.
If you are considering attending a virtual education conference or have an opportunity to present virtually in 2021, do it! MS teacher and conference veteran Kasey Short shares tips for session selection, virtual connecting, avoiding screen overload, notetaking, and more.
Active listening can take any virtual, hybrid or regular class into humanizing spaces that may motivate more students to join the learning process, writes coach and NBCT Elizabeth Stein. And if you’re co-teaching, the active listening process is easy to model!
