Effective questions build in opportunities to scaffold student learning. Teaching coach Barbara R. Blackburn suggests creating questions that encourage multiple answers, include hints and context, allow students to help each other, and provide a clear indicator of success.
Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn advocate for a three-step teacher evaluation process that emphasizes pre- and post-observation conferences designed to promote full teacher ownership and collaboration, with an emphasis on recognizing strengths and planning for growth.
Comprehension is a concern in every content area. If a student cannot comprehend the material, whether it’s words or images, they cannot meet learning goals. Teaching coach Barbara R. Blackburn offers some simple strategies that can help you scaffold comprehension for your students.
Teaching guru Barbara R. Blackburn returns to her roots in the classroom to give new teachers a list of quick tips – 26, one for each letter of the alphabet – all ideas that will help newbies launch and navigate their journeys. Included: her list of links to essential resource websites.
Who will be coming in your door this fall? Upper elementary? Slightly older kids who sometimes feel childish and at other times want to be treated as adults? Here are MiddleWeb’s back-to-school strategies from educators that can help make all of your new students feel welcome!
For well over a decade MiddleWeb has shared helpful ideas for new middle grades and MS teachers. In this post we’ve selected recent articles along with several classics and book reviews that might be MOST useful before and during your first months in the classroom.
As new teachers and other educators in schools with many struggling readers search for equitable instructional approaches that will accelerate (not remediate) student learning, metacognition and reciprocal teaching strategies can help, write Sonya Murray and Gwendolyn Turner.
Whether school leaders network using traditional methods like books and conferences or virtual solutions using social media tools and platforms, it’s vital to be a learner and to model learning in your organization. Ron Williamson and Barb Blackburn explore the PLN option.
We cannot make students be intrinsically motivated, writes teaching coach Barbara Blackburn. But we can create a classroom culture that focuses on the building blocks of value and success. When we do, students are more likely to grow resilient and take chances on learning.
What can you and your students accomplish the last few weeks of school? In this MiddleWeb resource educators share activities that align learning with fun, offer ideas for responding to stress, and suggest strategies to help sustain your classroom community.
