A writer’s notebook is a place to write down what you notice and don’t want to forget; a place to record your ideas and reactions to things. Most of all, it’s a place for students to take what they’ve learned in class and make it their own. It’s a place to live like a writer.
In her book Stephanie Affinito brings together the importance of reflection and the need to examine our classroom practices. She provides a framework for celebrating our reading and writing lives and offers ways we can help our students develop these habits for themselves.
Each educator braving the gauntlet of Covid-era teaching has been stressed and stretched to wits’ end. It’s time to collect the payoff from this strenuous work. Curtis Chandler relates 5 questions teachers asked themselves during the crisis. “If we begin the new school year with solid answers, we’ll be rewarded.”
Dual Language / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Tan Huynh · Published 06/28/2021 · Last modified 07/09/2021
Drawing on his podcast with Dr. Sonia Soltero, language specialist and co-teacher Tan Huynh explains 9 myths that often prevent language learners from receiving the most equitable, rigorous learning experiences and can sever connections to their communities and families.
New YA books by Amanda Gorman, Lois Lowry and Margarita Engle are all written in verse, says Katie Caprino, yet each tells a story in a different way. One is a poem to America. Another is memoir. And the third is historical fiction, set in 1990s Cuba, with a singing dog.
In the aftermath of a school year full of challenge and uncertainty, teachers are looking forward to something closer to a normal summer. Middle school teacher Kasey Short shares ways she plans to regroup, relax, and recharge: unplugged, outdoors, by journaling, and more.
Middle school educators at Brooklyn’s Ditmar IS 62 chose to overcome “learning loss” by engaging their sixth, seventh and eighth graders in a long-range project documenting the tragic story of 9/11 through research, oral family and community history and literacy activities.
The school year is winding down and the prescribed math curriculum is in its final pages. A perfect time for NBCT Kathleen Palmieri to offer her fifth graders activities that use the magic of math to help review concepts and skills and encourage mathematical conversations.
Math Curriculum for Gifted Students (Grade 6): Lessons, Activities and Extensions is a great resource for pull-out math and afterschool enrichment, differentiation in the regular or gifted classroom, and more, writes middle grades Exceptional Student educator Laura Von Staden.
If getting feedback from students is an effective practice, why not ask for feedback from our teaching partners? Language specialist and co-teacher Tan Huynh describes formal and informal co-reflecting, outlines useful topics, and provides several co-reflection protocols.
