Social Emotional Learning / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Tan Huynh · Published 01/20/2020 · Last modified 01/21/2020
To help our English learners leave our classes and schools not only with greater language command but with more emotional control and awareness of others’ perspectives, Tan Huynh suggests storifying SEL, building social-emotional skills into lesson planning, and more.
Every chapter of School Improvement for All starts with commentary about how to determine vision versus reality, outlines ways to get from one to the other, and then provides concrete tools and steps to follow as a plan of action, writes NBCT Kathy Pham. A true guide to PLC success.
Future of History / US Constitution
by Sarah Cooper · Published 01/06/2020 · Last modified 04/17/2024
Sarah Cooper is always searching for ways to strengthen her eighth grade unit on the Constitution. This year she deepened her exploration of iCivics and found visually appealing readings and games her students enjoyed. She added sparkle with video and other fun activities.
Middle school principal Evan Robb’s Six Pillars of Leadership work in concert to form a solid and lasting foundation for shared decision making. The result: a student-centered culture that values collective vision, empowerment, risk-taking, kindness, trust, equity and more.
Principal Rita Platt is learning to sign, both to communicate with a new student and to renew her empathy for the hard work we ask students to do every day. She also has a fresh appreciation for learning targets. “Seeing the purpose of our work is critical to motivation.”
It’s inevitable. Interruptions will steal instructional time. As winter break approached this year, the urgency to “cover everything” left math teacher Michelle Russell super-stressed and her students sad. Armed with fresh strategies, she’ll try not to let it happen again.
In Climbing the Literacy Ladder Beverly Tyner offers a practical book with ready-to-implement ideas for grades PreK-5, including support for upper elementary teachers with early readers. Intermediate literacy coach Pam Hamilton recommends it as a versatile go-to resource.
When we use verbal, imaginative, and conceptual play as touchstones for our planning and teaching in middle school, we help students look forward to learning and school itself, say educators Chris and Katie Cunningham. Their idea-rich post offers many jumping-off points.
A recent study found drawing can improve our memory more than re-writing or visualizing because it activates more areas of the brain. With this in mind, Megan Kelly set out to incorporate sketchnotes into her English class without it becoming “Language Arts and Crafts.”
Wondering how to differentiate the format of the standard paper-and-pencil summative assessment to meet the needs of English learners? Tan Huynh shows how word banks, visuals, single-task questions, sentence starters, and synonyms can help ELs convey what they know.
