Dina Strasser recommends ditching the reading wars that are distracting educators across America. Tracking the changing theories and practices of recent decades, she concludes that phonics, the science of reading, and balanced literacy can work together to benefit students.
In Unjournaling by Dawn DiPrince and Cheryl Thurston, students will find the book’s 250 prompts interesting and challenging, and teachers will appreciate the flexibility and variety this second edition brings to class. Everyone will have fun too, promises Anne Anderson.
What would it be like to spend time together with colleagues on a regular basis to learn and improve our teaching skills? To investigate that question, Anne Jolly embarked on a year-long, onsite action research project to design and test a middle school teacher collaboration process.
The number one frustration Barbara Blackburn hears from educators is TIME! “I just don’t have time to do everything I need to.” Try her seven strategies to cope with constant planning and overflowing calendars. And remember this: perfectionism can be the enemy of completion.
In Jay Wamsted’s 8th grade math class he chooses to go right for the conversation on race and culture when the opportunity arises. “After all, why not try to know each other a little better?” Learning happens, he says, when students and teacher can be authentic with each other.
Kasey Short shows how nontraditional fantasy books can be used to address difficult topics, provide real world commentary, counter stereotypes, allow students to see kids that look like them as heroes, and inspire new ways of thinking and imagining. Lots of titles included!
Lesson Planning / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Tan Huynh · Published 03/07/2023 · Last modified 08/20/2023
This lesson planning template created by Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton serves the learning needs of both multilinguals and non-MLs in any subject. It helps assure planning is highly structured and intentional, lessons are accessible, and success is within reach of all students.
The flash fiction format is engaging, appealing, and motivating to students and to teachers, precisely because of its brevity, accessibility, and manageability, writes teacher/author Linda Rief. “For the first time I am finding joy in hearing and reading my students’ fiction.”
5th grade teacher Kathie Palmieri has been exploring ways to better infuse mathematics in other subject areas and help students gain a more positive attitude about math’s central place in their lives. She shares some ideas about SEL and two examples from her science lessons.
Deciding when – and how much – to help our students can be difficult, writes new-teacher educator Curtis Chandler. It requires both a self-assessment of our own preconceptions and the ability to strike a delicate balance between high expectations and full support for all.
