Students in the middle are facing a perfect storm of stress, anxiety and overwhelm. Educators Trisha DiFazio and Allison Roeser share ways to help them grow a sense of connectedness and belonging with easy to implement SEL strategies for all content areas. Start with Battery Life!
In Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, Zaretta Hammond offers a clear explanation of brain-based learning from a culturally diverse perspective and a clear description of how it looks in action through authentic engagement and rigor, writes teacher leader Bill Ivey.
Serena Pariser and Victoria Lentfer answer teachers’ questions about how best to establish dynamic classrooms, offering practical ways to build routines, minimize off-task behaviors, and engage students in truly meaningful ways. A great resource, says NBCT Kathie Palmieri.
Traditional vocabulary strategies are passive exercises that have little impact in the long run, write Lynne Dorfman and Aileen Hower. Students need lots of exposure to a word before they can fully understand and apply it. They need frequent, engaging and meaningful encounters with words.
Imagine an activity that takes little class time but engages students in current events and encourages them to speak with their families about what’s happening in the world. Teacher Megan Kelly longed for just such an activity and finally found it in “fantasy geopolitics.”
In her first year as a team leader, teacher Katie Durkin understands she has a lot to learn. But she’s already come to understand that effective leadership means building relationships, trust, and community among colleagues – with student success as the guiding principle.
Students can explore content, tap into their strengths, and learn about themselves when they dive into projects. Teachers Maggie and Piers Blyth offer a framework for planning, implementing, and following up projects to help kids use creative thinking and problem solving.
When teacher Jay Wamsted tweeted about why and how teachers should leave school on time and not work at home or on weekends, he lit up edutwitter as teachers took sides for and against his proposition. In Dina Strasser’s interview, Wamsted explains and expands on his thinking.
Learn how middle grades teacher and NBCT Kathie Palmieri is using the upgraded and rebranded Flip video tool (formerly Flipgrid) on a daily basis to engage her students, show quick lesson reviews, and get them talking about what they did and didn’t understand. Helpful tips included.
In Identity Affirming Classrooms: Spaces that Center Humanity, Erica Buchanan-Rivera provides teachers with the background knowledge, reflection tools and actionable practices needed to create identity-aware, student-centered environments. For all educators, says Katie Durkin.
