To level, or not to level? Like many educational dilemmas there is no simple right or wrong answer. Literacy coach and author Regie Routman explores the limited role book leveling might play in supporting students to become engaged, deeply comprehending, joyful readers.
In Write This Way from the Start: The First 15 Days of Writer’s Workshop Kelly Boswell gives educators the tools in the easiest workshop format to understand and emulate. Lisa Signorelli thinks the book is just what new and veteran teachers need.
To improve the effectiveness of PLCs, the four authors of Amplify Your Impact have created a framework for coaches to use to guide teachers in practicing effective teamwork. Educator Laura Cockman is already implementing elements of it with her PLC and recommends it.
Whether it’s performing as a person from history or working on a community problem with others, an assessment that gets students to dig deep into content will result in more rigorous learning, writes consultant Barbara Blackburn. She shares examples to get kids started.
Student discussions fueled by doubts and personal questions can push learning very deep, says teaching consultant Jackie Walsh. To set the stage, educators will need to address Teacher Mindset, Classroom Culture, Teaching Modeling, and Student Skills and Dispositions.
After considering his early years as an English teacher, looking at research and talking with teachers and administrators, teacher educator Sean Ruday shares four recommendations to help new ELA teachers’ first years in the classroom be as successful as possible.
Heart of the School / Summer Family Contacts
by Rita Platt · Published 06/17/2018 · Last modified 11/13/2019
We work all year to build and nurture relationships with our students and families. Why stop over the summer? Rita Platt offers quick, low-stress ideas for teachers and principals to stay connected to during the summer months. Public library meetups are super simple!
Tina H. Boogren takes beginning teachers in their first years through the phases they can expect: anticipation, survival, disillusionment, rejuvenation, and reflection. Teacher educator Linda Biondi finds Boogren’s recollections of her novice teaching particularly helpful.
In Creating Scientists Christopher Moore helps readers better understand the reasoning behind the NGSS and how to implement the standards in classrooms. If teachers focus lessons with his goals in mind, says science educator Joyce Depenbusch, students will benefit.
Mary Tarashuk’s fourth graders dedicate a large part of their end-of-year together looking back at where they began and how far they have come, not only as individuals, but as a classroom community. The Workshop journaling model helps everyone share their conclusions.
More
