Educator Sarah Cooper finds herself gravitating to teaching books that call our social consciences awake, as Sara K. Ahmed’s Being the Change does as it asks teachers to be even more human in the classroom and thus impel your students to share their humanity with you.
Once again it’s fall and the read-aloud rug in Mary Tarashuk’s 4T classroom is drawing new kids and characters closer together. First up: Fish in a Tree’s Ally Nickerson. Coming soon, another Global Read Aloud choice, Amal Unbound. Two girls with differences to share.
Whatever you know, sharing it outside school walls can inform policymakers, journalists, the public, other teachers, researchers, and professors – who can use your classroom discoveries to better serve students. Educator and writer Jenny Grant Rankin shows how.
Future of History / Teaching strategies
by Lauren S. Brown · Published 11/05/2018 · Last modified 11/16/2019
Lesson plan improvement notes written a year ago may not be as useful as you now wish they were. That’s what Lauren Brown discovered when she tried to decipher scribbled comments on materials from last fall. Learn some of her ideas to lessen the need for total recall.
One of the most common concerns Sarah Tantillo hears from ELA teachers is “I want to teach grammar, but I’m not sure how to fit it in.” Her new MiddleWeb post explains a systematic approach that blends grammar into narrative reading and writing classes, day by day.
Collaborative talk is imperative to sense-making in science as students investigate complex concepts, think deeply about their discoveries, and then build the explanations that provide evidence of their understanding. Science coach Kathy Renfrew shares the why and how.
Meaningful Math / Online Resources
by Michelle Russell · Published 10/29/2018 · Last modified 11/25/2019
Michelle Russell is always looking for new resources for her math classes. But before she spends time incorporating new tools, she wants to know what the resources can do. Here she shares what she and her students think of two online math platforms – IXL and Delta Math.
Retired teacher and principal and now math tutor Beth Ferguson wants to develop students’ ability not just to manipulate numbers but communicate their math understanding. She has found both research and plenty of tools in Teaching Students to Communicate Mathematically.
Co-teaching Conversations / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 10/23/2018 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Co-teaching and UDL coach Elizabeth Stein has found a tool that has the potential to break down communication barriers that get in the way of what co-teachers really need to do. She recommends the Four A’s Text Protocol to energize co-teacher dialogue and collaboration.
Could this be the year our students begin to discover their all-time favorite books? Jennifer Serravallo, literacy consultant and bestselling author of The Reading Strategies Book, shares 10 “back pocket” techniques that can help teachers match kids with great stories.
