The Flexible Classroom / Year End Reflection
by Amber Chandler · Published 06/25/2017 · Last modified 12/02/2019
Amid the mix of emotions and preoccupations that crowd end-of-year school days, Amber Chandler takes time to discover how her 8th graders ranked her five major ELA units this year. What they think will help her prepare for next fall. Once she returns from the lake!
In Routines for Reasoning, authors Kelemanick, Lucenta and Creighton make the case for establishing and sticking to routines to foster mathematical practices for all students. Educator Rita Platt finds she is “a better teacher and thinker for having read it.”
In an era of fake news and “alternate facts” how do we teach kids to read responsibly? Respected literacy authors Kylene Beers and Robert Probst share three Big Questions that students can use to anchor themselves as they examine nonfiction and their own values.
As Kevin Hodgson’s 6th graders rush to complete projects and portfolios in their final two weeks, he reflects on what he wishes he had achieved or done better during the school year. More patience. More connected learning. More awareness of his students’ lives.
How can teachers use brain-friendly strategies to help students encode, store and retrieve vocabulary words? Educator and author Marilee Sprenger shares some high-interest activities designed for each stage of learning academic words. Some just require a few minutes!
Book Reviews / Social & Emotional Learning
by MiddleWeb · Published 06/08/2017 · Last modified 11/12/2019
Carla Tantillo Philibert’s Everyday SEL in Elementary School gives inspiring, practical advice and lessons to help educators in classrooms and schoolwide meet their students’ social and emotional needs, says upper elementary teacher Linda Biondi.
Quality Questioning Can Help Us Transform Our Classrooms provides a detailed guide for fashioning quality questions and asking them in ways to encourage student learning. Instructional Partner Debby Smith says new and veteran teachers will want to keep it at hand.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Social-Emotional Learning
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 06/04/2017 · Last modified 11/25/2019
With so much focus on high stakes testing, teachers recognize their students are at risk of not gaining the “soft skills” they need to succeed in school and life. Cheryl Mizerny shares her do-it-yourself solution: easy to use activities she blends into her curriculum.
Jenny Grant Rankin’s First Aid for Teacher Burnout: How You Can Find Peace and Success is the perfect salve for the tired teacher’s soul. This short book is packed full of great ideas to relieve, rejuvenate, and energize, says teacher-librarian Rita Platt.
Close Reading the Media / Infographics
by Frank Baker · Published 05/30/2017 · Last modified 11/21/2019
Increasingly information is being conveyed in visual terms, and the flashy graphics can both clarify and mislead. Media literacy expert Frank Baker has teaching ideas to help students think more deeply about the infographics and visual data flooding our brains.
