Heart of the School / Remote Teaching
by Rita Platt · Published 05/24/2020 · Last modified 05/27/2020
After weeks of deciphering digital teaching and supporting students in new ways, educators are reflecting on their changed worlds. Principal Rita Platt reached out to collect some of their thoughts on the challenges, the silver linings, and their concerns about public education’s future.
The future may be uncertain but the mental health of our students shouldn’t be. Teacher, author and mentor Cathleen Beachboard describes how – through a focus on communication, consistency and control – educators can begin to help young people regain their sense of safety.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Pandemic Teaching
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 05/11/2020 · Last modified 08/12/2022
Amid global fear and incredible teaching and learning challenges generated by the pandemic, Cheryl Mizerny has decided to take Mr. Rogers’ advice and look for the helpers. Here’s her list of six ‘silver linings’ she’s discovered as her school supports “virtual” students.
Future teacher Kara Tyler recommends Determining Difference from Disability to help teachers and parents respond to linguistically, culturally and socio-emotionally diverse students. Tyler appreciates the book’s opportunities for reflection and the range of resources.
Helping students learn to read and love to read are two of the most important jobs of any teacher in the middle grades. You can’t do either without having robust libraries with books of all types, subjects, and levels. NBCT Rita Platt can help you build your collection.
What is Genius Hour? It’s a learning opportunity that gives students time to pursue their passions, explore interesting ideas and create something that they choose and will be proud of. Can we engage students during the pandemic via distance learning? Yes! Here’s how.
Add dimension to student book talks with Lynne Dorfman’s version of the Book-in-a-Bag project. And it works online, as students introduce their books by sharing a paper bag covered in images they recreate from fiction or nonfiction and by pulling out representative objects.
In response to the sudden shift to remote learning, history teacher Sarah Cooper has jettisoned her usual fourth-quarter Civil War unit and launched an opportunity for her 8th graders to create podcasts on challenging events in US history. Here’s the project in process.
This is not a casual, read-in-an-afternoon book. It is more like a math master class filled with ways to deepen students’ understanding through a problem-solving approach. Veteran math teacher Michael Hernandez highly recommends its tools and models from start to finish.
If co-teaching is a practice of sharing the classroom and students, what happens when our classroom is literally beyond the walls that usually hold us together? UDL coach Elizabeth Stein brings together current ideas about how to best serve students amid Covid-19, including those with special needs.
