STEM by Design blogger Anne Jolly knows summer time can be productive learning time. In this letter to parents and caregivers, she shares fun ideas about Maker projects that encourage curiosity, creativity, persistence and teamwork. Resource links included.
Math teachers wondering how their students came up with wrong answers will find lots to use in Children’s Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction. Videoed children explain their solutions and so reveal teaching insights, says reviewer Maia Fastabend.
Although “You Can Do This” is targeted to 1st year teachers, experienced educators & new administrators can also benefit from reading about a novice teacher’s experiences through the lens of an accomplished instructional leader, says reviewer Jason Gordon.
Most public school students take a US History course at least three times during their K12 careers. So why don’t they know more about America’s story? History educator Lauren S. Brown offers three ideas to help better focus teachers and engage students.
Teacher Cheryl Mizerny is not anti-tech, just anti-bad pedagogy – the kind that crops up when the garnish of tech overshadows the deep learning that can happen when teaching is “brain based, not screen-based.” Make the app fit the lesson, she says, not the other way around.
Book Reviews / Data-driven Instruction
by MiddleWeb · Published 05/14/2015 · Last modified 11/24/2019
17,000 Classroom Visits Can’t Be Wrong leaves the reader feeling empowered and ready to make positive changes to reach the next level of engagement and academic strategies in the classroom. It is a must read, says reviewer Jennifer Druffel.
Seventh grade teacher Kami Spampinato uses four kid-savvy strategies to get her students to “buy in” to reading complex texts. In this post, former MS educator Anne Vilen of Expeditionary Learning summarizes each technique and shares supporting EL videos.
In today’s budget-conscious and time-stressed schools, virtual field trips are a great way to excite students without leaving the classroom. Teaching expert Barbara Blackburn shares a sample lesson idea and some good places to hunt for relevant field trips.
Web-browsing teachers must not only harvest the ideas of others but curate what’s valuable and create opportunities online to stretch and grow, says former Kansas Teacher of the Year Curtis Chandler. He shares five digital tools to help make that happen.
The Teacher’s Guide to Tech 2015 by Jennifer Gonzalez welcomes educators into a comfortable space to explore new tech tools, says reviewer Sandy Wisneski. Readers will find practical text & video suggestions for selecting and implementing tools efficiently.
