Alex Shevrin Venet guides educators on how they can become effective, equity-centered, trauma-informed changemakers to provide healing and justice at school. Her book includes many insights, moments of reflection and useful exercises, writes education consultant Randy Ross.
By developing the skill of reframing, teachers can navigate challenges with greater ease, foster a more positive mindset, and build resilience that benefits us and our students. Tools for changing our perspective include pausing, pondering, and persisting, writes Julie Hasson.
Recently when Michelle Russell noticed that winter had drained the joy from her math classroom, she set out to reignite the glow. Checking with other teachers in person and online, she found tools that work. Trashetball, row games, and buzzer competitions top her new list.
To avoid experiencing co-teaching within an imbalanced power relationship, author, NBCT and co-teaching coach Elizabeth Stein shares a process that strengthens co-teaching through a dynamic exchange of individual and collective power – truly in partnership with one another.
During this reading activity, partners think out loud, supported by active listening, to deepen their individual and shared understandings. Rather than reading without focus, this strategy teaches students to attend to their reading by stopping to “say something” at intervals.
Author and master teacher Debbie Silver begins her case for spirit-building humor and laughter in classrooms and schools with a personal story from her years as a middle level educator. “Pay attention to how much you laugh together. Teachers and school leaders who laugh, last.”
To help long-term English learners meet reading comprehension challenges, language specialist Tan Huynh shares strategies to use before reading, during reading, and after reading so that multilinguals have the scaffolding they need to read grade-level texts with understanding.
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.
Working together in small groups using a book club model has helped sixth graders in Sara Kugler’s K-6 school shift from passive and disinterested to engaged and self-reliant. They’re eager to read and ready to “talk books,” writes the literacy coach and co-teacher.
Students can explore content, tap into their strengths, and learn about themselves when they dive into projects. Teachers Maggie and Piers Blyth offer a framework for planning, implementing, and following up projects to help kids use creative thinking and problem solving.
