Helping Kids Stick with Learning
Call it grit or resilience, it’s a behavior that can serve students well. We’ve gathered advocates’ views, pushback from critics and ideas to build it.
Call it grit or resilience, it’s a behavior that can serve students well. We’ve gathered advocates’ views, pushback from critics and ideas to build it.
Professional community / Working Draft
by Kevin Hodgson · Published 12/17/2014 · Last modified 11/16/2019
When Kevin Hodgson shared a heartfelt reflection with the Slice of Life teacher writing community, the supportive and encouraging comments he received from online colleagues “were like lifelines to me.” He highly recommends the Tuesday writing activity.
Teachers who begin lessons without telling students “what we’re doing and where we’re going” are kidnappers, says Sarah Tantillo. Don’t take your middle graders on a mystery ride. Use the RPM strategy to write rigorous, purposeful, measurable objectives in any subject. Cheatsheet included!
Want to improve relationships between families and school? Teachers benefit when learning is reinforced and supported from home. Consultant Barbara Blackburn has tips on how to PAIR with parents and avoid school-side mistakes that weaken engagement.
Learning to code is an important new literacy. But how, wonders edtech coach Emily Vickery, do we close the opportunity gap between those who have access to coding instruction and those who don’t? Vickery suggests some resources that can help less advantaged students cross the divide.
Literacy expert Laura Robb offers her research-based argument for refocusing American school reform on strategies to strengthen support for teachers and promote opportunities for all children to become creative, divergent thinkers and problem solvers.
With quick concise sections, summary bullet points, engaging verse, reflective questions, bonus lists, and easy to use tabbing, Seven Simple Secrets: What the BEST Teachers Know and Do is a book educators need at their fingertips, says reviewer Laura Von Staden.
When youth in the middle know their “sparks” – their inner energizing interests – they’re more likely to stay engaged in school and develop a sense of purpose. Expert Susan Ragsdale shares motivational research & activities to help uncover those sparks.
The ‘T’ in STEM manifests in many ways, says science educator Anne Jolly. One new trend, coming rapidly to the fore, is writing program code. In this post Anne shares some coding ideas she and teacher Emily Vickery have brainstormed for STEM classes.
Advertising: it’s everywhere. As media literacy educators work to engage students in conversations about commercial marketing, we have to consider the close reading of print and video ads. Frank Baker provides starting points and resources for teachers.