Co-teaching Reflections / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 03/21/2018 · Last modified 11/24/2019
After helping a co-teaching team talk through their student engagement challenges, coach Elizabeth Stein shares some of the guiding questions that helped the two teachers unpack their differing goals and philosophies and begin to find ways to reach more students.
Are your students ready for Common Core ELA assessments? Using the PARCC as a springboard, literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo details a 10-lesson strategy to prep for the Literary Analysis Writing Task and links to other preps at her blog. Teachers in non-PARCC states may also find the ideas helpful.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Spring Learning
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 03/11/2018 · Last modified 12/04/2019
With spring fever looming, Cheryl Mizerny breaks out her teacher-tested collection of apps and tools that can make her classroom more interactive, relevant and engaging – and her students more eager to learn. Check out Quizizz, Inklewriter and other digital all-stars.
Calling on her background as a researcher specializing in authentic math for all students, Ilana Seidel Horn provides detailed explanations of why detached students resist engagement and offers thoughtful responses that teachers in any subject can use, says reviewer Patti Mosko.
How can teachers help students become deep thinkers and creative problem solvers – skills needed to solve the pressing challenges facing global societies? STEM provides a pathway. Expert Anne Jolly poses 11 questions that can help teachers design effective STEM lessons.
Future of History / Learning from Students
by Sarah Cooper · Published 02/27/2018 · Last modified 03/01/2022
Sarah Cooper’s eighth graders take a “Bread and Roses” metaphor from the Progressive Era to the fight for the ERA – making insightful comparisons Cooper had not anticipated. “Giving students room to make their own connections meant that they could teach me,” she says.
In Enticing Hard-To-Reach Writers, Ruth Ayres offers wide ranging ideas and resources to help all students become writers because “when writers believe their words matter, nothing can stop them.” We begin, reviewer Mary Langer Thompson notes, by getting our hearts right.
Co-teaching Success / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 02/20/2018 · Last modified 11/29/2019
As schools go through the annual Least Restrictive Environment process, special needs coach Elizabeth Stein is wondering – what happens once the decision is made? Read her tips to ensure students assigned to co-taught classrooms have something more than a “banking model” education.
Close Reading the Media / Media Literacy & History
by Frank Baker · Published 02/13/2018 · Last modified 11/17/2019
The tumultuous and difficult year of 1968 is getting lots of media attention during 2018 because it marks the 50th anniversary of so many newsworthy events in America. Media literacy expert Frank Baker says the anniversary focus offers many teaching opportunities.
Alexis Wiggins has taken a 1930s Socratic discussion strategy and enriched it to provide more detail about process, assessment and self-reflection. Teacher Joanne Bell finds Wiggins’ Spider Web technique a useful tool to develop learners ready for 21st century employment.
