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!
By differentiating reading choices and inviting students to discuss diverse texts using student-led conversations, you can heighten their ability to analyze texts and hone their critical thinking skill. Reading expert Laura Robb discusses set-up and assessment.
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.
Brain Friendly Strategies / end-of-year learning / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 05/16/2017 · Last modified 11/27/2019
Spring is in the air and kids’ attention is fluttering around and beyond the room. Elizabeth Stein shares a bit of timely brain science and offers strategies to help co-teachers bring their students’ attention back to class as the end of school approaches.
“Since many students are in my class multiple times,” writes ELL teacher Wendi Pillars, “I’m always seeking new topics to tie literacy skills together.” This year one theme was “Zero Hunger” through sustainable agriculture. A perfect hook for a unit on eating insects.
Research leaves little doubt that strategic use of groups and teams boosts achievement for most students, says teacher educator Curtis Chandler. Learn about the key elements of group work and several digital tools that make forming groups flexible and efficient.
Close Reading the Media / Quick Media Lit Lessons
by Frank Baker · Published 05/01/2017 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Consultant Frank Baker often hears teachers and media specialists raise concerns about the time it takes to facilitate a visual or media literacy lesson. In this post he shares several ideas for 15-minute lesson segments using familiar magazines for kids and adults.
In science educator Anne Jolly’s mind, protests on behalf of science-based policy making are not about partisanship but about protecting jobs and the economy, our children’s health and prosperity, and ultimately our planet. That’s why she joined the March for Science.
When spring fever rises and summer still seems far away, newbie and veteran teachers alike may feel they’re losing their focus and their students are drifting. Check out Elyse Scott’s five regrouping and re-energizing strategies and “do what’s right for the kids.”
Using observer-centered Instructional Rounds, teachers at Mrachek Middle School in Aurora CO are focused on finding the personalized methods to engage every student equitably and effectively. After two years, the effort is producing solid results and some epiphanies.
