Teaching allegory / Working Draft
by Kevin Hodgson · Published 03/25/2014 · Last modified 11/23/2019
A convergence of events – from the Cold War-tinged Ukraine crisis to World Read Aloud Day and the birthday of Dr. Seuss – helped inspire 6th grade ELA teacher Kevin Hodgson’s recent lessons on allegory and the difference between nonfiction and truth.
Principal Matt Renwick reviews THE PRINCIPAL by leadership expert Michael Fullan, a compact new book about the challenging work of school-based leaders. Fullan focuses on avoidable pitfalls and 3 keys to success, including being a district “player.”
Thomas Newkirk urges us to consider how, in a test-crazed culture, we can stay focused on what matters for our students. Holding On To Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones is not a literacy ‘how-to’ book, says Jenni Miller, but important nonetheless.
Former principal Sue Stephenson describes how she and a team of teachers recently helped seventh graders prepare and perform standup comedy routines, all the while learning serious writing, speaking and personal living skills. Video link included!
In her book about the social life of networked teens, Internet scholar danah boyd “issues a call to all of us who are adults to take more time to understand the shifts now taking place,” 6th grade teacher Kevin Hodgson writes. The guidance role of teachers & parents “has never been more important, nor more complicated.”
Working with a group of teachers openly wary of technology, Kevin Hodgson offered this writing prompt: “Recall your first aha moment about tech and teaching.” And then, like the good writing teacher he is, he shared his own story as a model.
Getting Started with STEM / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 02/23/2014 · Last modified 12/10/2019
In this STEM By Design guest post, Dr. Susan Pruet shares 7 essentials on how to design and implement a successful, sustainable STEM program. Nothing worthwhile happens fast. So start with a diversely talented team and then work through her steps.
Inclusion Classrooms / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 02/23/2014 · Last modified 12/14/2019
In a new post at the Two Teachers in the Room blog, special educator Elizabeth Stein shares her ideal classroom: profiles a fatally flawed classroom; and offers steps to achieve the first & avoid the second.
Good writing instruction doesn’t have to be complicated, says literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo. No matter what genre you’re teaching – a paragraph, a timed essay or a full-blown research paper – she recommends these basic steps. Rubric included!
Every art teacher could benefit by having The Art Teacher’s Survival Guide for Elementary and Middle Schools by Helen Hume in their personal libraries, says reviewer Carrie Manders. It may not be one you use every day, but it is one to reference on a regular basis.
