New Teacher Tips / Strong Class Starts
by Curtis Chandler · Published 12/12/2022 · Last modified 03/01/2024
Wrestlers – like Curtis Chandler’s youngest son – need a strong start to succeed in each match. Students benefit from strong starts each day too. Curtis shares tips for new and veteran teachers to begin every class: bait and switch, informational hooks, and many more.
Michael McLaughlin reviews Brad Johnson and Hal Bowman’s Thank You, Teacher, a collection of 100 letters written by educators for educators with the aim of uplifting, affirming, and celebrating “the incredible work of our profession.”
Instead of giving middle graders the right answer after they cling tenaciously to their misconceptions, devise processes that lead them to discover the fallacies on their own. Literacy interventionist Kelly Owens shares some cross-curricular tools and strategies that can help.
A librarian introduces Mary Tarashuk’s 4th graders to The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate. Mary builds on the true story, taking its cross cultural message to social studies and ELA, and applies its story of rededication to her own teaching.
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.
