Summer offers time for middle schoolers to select books they’ll enjoy. Media literacy facilitator Jennifer Sniadecki sees a role for picture books to engage them. Diving into several genres, she describes books that will catch their attention. Spiders and memory jars, anyone?
As new teachers and other educators in schools with many struggling readers search for equitable instructional approaches that will accelerate (not remediate) student learning, metacognition and reciprocal teaching strategies can help, write Sonya Murray and Gwendolyn Turner.
A week into summer break, teacher Michelle Russell looks back at how she adjusted the last weeks of class to lower her stress and make sure she would face less stress in the fall. Included: imposing order on packing away supplies and making time to check in with kids.
It pays to be strategic when managing time, writes teacher Kelly Owens. Without compromising good practice, educators can learn to ditch time drainers and invest those precious minutes in time savers. Reduce, reuse and recycle to work more efficiently and effectively.
Teachers Samantha Layne and Susanne Croasdaile introduce a new UDL-friendly tool to promote higher thinking, using a model-building strategy. TPRY helps students break down visual content, analyze it, and even build their own visual texts. See a food web modeling example.
Sparking Creativity in the World Language Classroom by veteran educators Deborah Blaz and Tom Alsop provides examples from language programs showcasing how creativity can be integrated into curricula to engage our students, writes Spanish teacher and ELM coach Melinda Stewart.
Teachers are always short of resources. New teachers, in particular, need a helping hand and the tools to make their jobs less stressful. Education resources specialist April Angel urges them to take advantage of quality resource sites to plan lessons and fill specific needs.
As pre-service teachers anticipate their first classrooms, former Kansas TOY and teacher educator Curtis Chandler is ready with expert strategies to help them select the right schools and successfully complete the interview process. He stresses staying positive and being persistent.
100-Word Stories: A Short Form for Expansive Writing by Kim Culbertson and Grant Faulkner is a wonderful resource for teaching with micro texts and for helping students in levels 5-12 develop both writing and reading mastery, writes middle school ELA teacher Erin Corrigan-Smith.
After reading Co-Intelligence, Sarah Cooper is newly optimistic about the possibilities of AI in education – and trying to live more like a cyborg. Follow along as she inspects the author’s rules for co-intelligence, ways to personalize AI for educators, and how and if we might co-exist in the future.
