You’ve heard of innovation, and you’ve heard of mindset, but what is an Innovator’s Mindset? School leader George Couros offers his manifesto on how we can change education, not with step-by-step instructions but by growing a teaching culture of “relentless restlessness.”
As summer flirts with Labor Day, Laurie Lichtenstein recalls the joys of being her “Summer Me” – a time for long walks and paddling trips, reading books and ignoring lists. As school dreams begin again, she relishes her last August days and plans for another great year.
The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide offers abundant ideas to help navigate the ever changing world of the classroom. Reviewer Linda Biondi notes it is designed to help ease the pressures and demands of day-to-day teaching for new and veteran teachers alike.
The power of Genius Hour comes from sparking wonder, encouraging deep learning, and facilitating sharing so students can make public their new knowledge, creation, or innovation, locally and world wide. GH champions Denise Krebs and Gallit Zvi describe good ways to share.
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.
What STEM lessons will you try with students this year? There’s no one, die-cut STEM curriculum that every classroom should be using, says Anne Jolly. But as teachers search for, adapt, or design projects, it helps to consider what an “ideal” STEM lesson might look like.
In Mindsets and Moves, Gravity Goldberg shows how to change mindsets in our classrooms and how to move students from reading as work to reading as a pathway to learning. Educator Laura Von Staden recommends this well-written, thought-provoking book.
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.
Classroom Goals / Meaningful Math
by Michelle Russell · Published 08/06/2018 · Last modified 11/24/2019
One reason math educator Michelle Russell loves being a teacher is because every year she gets “a reset.” After a summer spent in part reflecting, she’s set two goals for fall: improving communications with families and helping kids focus on the positive every day.
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.
