To help combat negative perceptions that can surround administration, DeAnna Miller offers three ways school leaders can cultivate mutual respect among staff: (1) offering meaningful feedback; (2) being highly visible; and (3) not being led astray by the Good Idea Fairy.
Working together in small groups using a book club model has helped sixth graders in Sara Kugler’s K-6 school shift from passive and disinterested to engaged and self-reliant. They’re eager to read and ready to “talk books,” writes the literacy coach and co-teacher.
Even if middle school students have no idea what careers they want to pursue, computer science helps them acquire skills they’ll need to be successful. Learn how 7th and 8th grade CS teacher Crystal Kistler uses coding and project learning to broaden their knowledge base.
Dual Language / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Tan Huynh · Published 11/27/2022 · Last modified 08/07/2024
A culturally sustaining and relevant pedagogy for multilingual students assures grade-level academic progress, strengthens first-language usage and sustains cultural connections. Dual language programs are the best path forward, writes language specialist Tan Huynh.
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.
8th grader Lily Strickland offers teachers a student’s perspective on homework. She knows her teachers care about kids, but she’s not sure they always understand the impact that assigning homework has on busy adolescents. Her six tips draw on the ‘good policies’ of some of her teachers.
Content Learning / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Tan Huynh · Published 09/18/2022 · Last modified 01/26/2023
Teaching academic content is less about receiving students who are ready to learn and more about creating conditions to support learning. Tan Huynh shares a geography lesson he designed to meet three conditions multilinguals need to learn content and language simultaneously.
When Stephanie Farley coaxes her students into a good frame of mind – happy, relaxed, confident – they learn more, just as positivity research predicts. Join her as she shares 10 joy-inducing methods – including dogs – and suggests ways to reach across content.
In The Gift of Story John Schu shows how to use the roles of story as clarifier, healer, inspiration, compassion, and connector to bring reading alive. Literacy leader Sarah Valter loves how ‘Mr. Schu’ emphasizes the many ways stories can weave us all closer together.
Questioning for Formative Feedback by Jackie Acree Walsh is full of insightful, thought provoking, and practical ways to infuse a classroom with formative questioning, encourage dialogue, and lead to deeper learning for students. A great professional learning adventure!
