Assessing students’ prior knowledge allows you to customize your teaching by anticipating their needs. Consultant Barbara Blackburn provides 8 simple strategies to help you gain an understanding of what your students do and do not know before launching into a lesson.
Today’s students have to learn to shift their writing styles to meet different real-life purposes, says ELA teacher-author Jeremy Hyler. Teachers should understand the different contexts (school, work, and personal) and help students learn to “code switch” as needed.
Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome offer educators ways to rethink teaching, model risk taking for students, show students they are valued, push the boundaries that hold teachers back, take care of themselves, and develop leadership at a high level, writes Laura Von Staden.
Class Apps / Student Questioning
by Curtis Chandler · Published 12/10/2017 · Last modified 12/03/2019
Curtis Chandler has been guilty of ping-pong teaching that “merely bounces information back and forth between my students and myself.” Kids learn more from a volleyball approach where they work together “to set up the shot” through inquiry activities. App tips included.
Jennifer Taylor-Cox is back with a 2nd edition of Family Math Night K-5. If that’s your idea of a good time, you’ll find everything you need to plan and present an opportunity for your students and families to enjoy learning math together, says reviewer Linda Biondi.
Close Reading the Media / Literacy and Film
by Frank Baker · Published 11/28/2017 · Last modified 11/28/2019
Film, video and television media are powerful engagement tools for literacy teachers. Author and media consultant Frank W. Baker shares lots of ideas about using screenplays, closed captioning, and media-related projects to boost reading and other literacy skills.
Maps and mapmaking can help bring visual “connector points” to ELA lessons, says teacher Kevin Hodgson, serving as writing prompts, aids in teaching novels, reflection/assessment tools, and more. Learn some of the ways he uses both digital and hand-drawn maps in class.
Heart of the School / Stress Avoidance
by Rita Platt · Published 11/19/2017 · Last modified 01/31/2024
Teaching truly is a never-ending job. You can’t stop time, but there are simple strategies to help you save time and decrease stress. Rita Platt offers 10 ideas to help put yourself in a teaching sweet spot instead of constantly struggling in a frantic survival zone.
Paula Kluth and Julie Causton offer a book that uses everyday language, is punctuated with wit and humor, and genuinely addresses many of the obstacles that face co-teachers in their real-world classrooms, says special education lead teacher Laura Von Staden.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Social-Emotional Learning
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 11/06/2017 · Last modified 12/15/2019
Off to a great start, Cheryl Mizerny continues to promote a Year of Kindness among her 6th graders and her school. Here she looks ahead and describes plans for the rest of the year. You’ll find lots of resources to promote kindness among your own students and community.
