Anne Anderson has added read-alouds and other picture books to her calendar celebrations – an engaging collection of odd information, birthdays of the famous and not-so-famous, and lesser-known holidays. See the Fantastic Flying Books and other top picks for December, January and February!
Sketchnotes give kids the chance to express themselves with an assignment that falls in the gray area between ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect.’ Sixth grade teacher Kelly Owens explains how she and her co-teaching colleague use sketchnoting as a technique to promote growth mindset.
We often turn to friends when we’re looking for new books to read. The same is true for students. Making book talks a regular part of your classroom gives kids a platform to recommend books they love and want to share. Lynne Dorfman and Brenda Krupp offer helpful tips and tools.
Close Reading the Media / Evaluating Media
by Frank Baker · Published 11/14/2021 · Last modified 11/17/2021
Students are constant targets of advertisers and influencers, writes author–consultant Frank Baker. Introduce kids to seven key media literacy questions that can boost their critical thinking skills and get them in the habit of always asking “What’s really going on?”
I Will Screw This Up / Pandemic Stress
by Dina Strasser · Published 11/10/2021 · Last modified 01/03/2022
As teacher Dina Strasser looks at the multiple sources of stress educators face in fall 2021, she shares insights from the radical origins of the concept of self-care: it is possible to tune in to ourselves without tuning out the larger social issues surrounding us.
Kathie Palmieri likes the free teacher-owned Flippity site, offering engaging teaching tools in all subject areas. She shows how to easily create multimedia flashcards, involve classes in randomly choosing partners, and make interactive spelling lists tailored to students.
To help in assessing students’ digital stories, Katie Caprino and Alyssa Marzili share tips on ways to engage middle graders in thinking about their stories’ purpose, genre, tone and audience, how to structure peer feedback, and how to use digital tools for ongoing evaluation.
Using informative, argumentative, personal and metacognitive writing activities, Linda Dacey shows how all learners can build skills and understanding in math through the writing process. Math and literacy coach Helene Alalouf highly recommends “this gem of a book.”
In his farewell reflection upon leaving the classroom, teacher Jeremy Hyler says he will be “working for an organization that believes in making every student successful through the programs they offer and not just selling a product or serving a subset of our students.”
In response to a pandemic spike in discipline referrals and educator burnout, AP DeAnna Miller urges school leaders make a concerted effort to be visible even though it is hard, to take time to listen even when they seem to lack the time, and to do something restorative for themselves.
