Frank Buck remembers the joy of playing the Tonette with 4th grade classmates. Today, any teacher with access to a set of iPads and a free app can introduce all students to elements of music, enjoy the kids’ hands-on sound experiments, and build engagement and a more vibrant classroom culture.
Kevin Hodgson’s sixth graders experience systems thinking when they explain Rube Goldberg contraptions, design interactive stories, and diagram sports plays. Hodgson offers many examples of student work and shows how the approach addresses Common Core objectives.
Class Apps / Emotional Learning
by Curtis Chandler · Published 03/14/2017 · Last modified 11/15/2019
How students feel about what is being taught and what they’re being asked to do works either as a catalyst or a deterrent to learning. Curtis Chandler shares activities and digital resources to help boost engagement and achievement by ’emotionalizing’ learning.
Close Reading the Media / Covering the Presidency
by Frank Baker · Published 03/13/2017 · Last modified 11/26/2019
How the news media functions and how it covers the White House are important for today’s students to understand, says media literacy expert Frank Baker. He reviews current controversies growing out of President Trump’s “war on the media” and offers teaching ideas.
Explaining that middle school is “the unspoken linchpin in establishing a positive trajectory for career and college success,” Principal Robert Messia shares eight tested strategies for helping students understand and begin to prepare for the possibilities ahead.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Teacher Collaboration
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 03/12/2017 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Noting the barrage of criticism educators face from beyond the classroom, Cheryl Mizerny recommends that teachers across the generations unite to build the profession through full collaboration, rejecting the current widespread stereotyping of rookies and veterans.
Veteran principal Matt Renwick discovers it’s not too late to become a more organized and effective school leader as he gives the step-by-step advice in Maia Heyck-Merlin’s “The Together Leader: Get Organized for Your Success and Sanity!” a real road test.
Building a STEM Program / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 03/07/2017 · Last modified 11/25/2019
When Anne Jolly is asked for advice about creating STEM programs, she’s quick to say there’s no one-size-fits-all blueprint for STEM learning. Even so, she believes there are eight components any district, school or classroom initiative must have to be effective.
MS librarian Rachel Grover’s favorite role is instructional partner, working with teachers across disciplines to extend and enhance the curriculum. Using examples from her practice, Grover describes how skilled librarians can boost student (and teacher) learning.
Teachers have lots of justifiable reasons to complain about their jobs, says author-educator Jenny Rankin. But “loving your work and experiencing peace and success on a daily basis are certainly within your reach.” Attitude isn’t everything, she says, but it helps to avoid toxic thinking.
