Math Strategies / Meaningful Math
by Michelle Russell · Published 04/16/2019 · Last modified 03/04/2024
Geoff Krall’s valuable new book gets down to math “nuts and bolts,” writes teacher Michelle Russell. It’s not just about theory. It offers detailed strategies and ideas to create the three necessary conditions for students to begin to see themselves as mathematicians.
Marilee Sprenger shares the “break-up letter” she read to her middle school students to help them become aware of their emotions and find strategies that will work for them and their individual experiences. She includes follow-up activities to build SEL skills for all.
Close Reading the Media / Political Optics
by Frank Baker · Published 04/10/2019 · Last modified 04/16/2019
As the presidential race heats up, stagecraft and poli-optics will be an important part of everything we see and hear, writes media literacy expert Frank Baker. Here’s how we can help students pull back the curtain on techniques used by professional image manipulators.
Future of History / Teaching Insights
by Lauren S. Brown · Published 04/08/2019 · Last modified 11/14/2019
That day you left your notes at home. Or taught a stupendous lesson that left kids bored. Or found a student’s super essay was all plagiarized. Or arranged a special speaker only to learn about a conflicting event. Middle school teacher Lauren Brown offers solace and a mood lifting idea.
Reshma Saujani offers insights about what it means for girls to be brave but not perfect. Teachers can pass her ideas on to their students, writes educator Bill Ivey, whether by internalizing them and sharing when needed or by actually studying Saujani’s book in class or in clubs.
Class Apps / Student Questioning
by Curtis Chandler · Published 04/02/2019 · Last modified 06/21/2023
Too often classroom questioning becomes pedagogical ping-pong, resulting in predictable, back-and-forth exchanges between teachers and students. Use these questioning strategies and tools shared by teacher educator and former Kansas TOY Curtis Chandler to up your game.
Respectful, fruitful collaboration among students is not “nice” for kids to master before they make their own way in the world – it is absolutely necessary. It’s especially needed when problems arise. Dina Strasser suggests co-creating norms that serve the whole child.
Assessment / It's Not Easy Being Tween
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 03/26/2019 · Last modified 04/16/2024
Formative assessment can be fun. Yes, FUN, writes teacher Cheryl Mizerny. How to turn all those frequent checks for understanding into activities students can enjoy? Cheryl shares her go-to’s, both tech enhanced and tech free. Why not give Incredible Shrinking Text a try?
It’s at the precise moment when students are bombarded by facts, whether historical or current, that we need to be especially vigilant, writes American history and current events teacher Sarah Cooper, paraphrasing historian Sam Wineburg. Sifting through sources has become a life skill.
Systemic change is still needed to shift stereotypes and achieve equity and equality in STEM fields, writes middle school science educator Cristina Veresan. But educators can make a difference by exposing students to “everyday” science superheroes who defy typecasting.
