Career & Technical Education / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 02/15/2015 · Last modified 12/12/2019
Anne Jolly takes a closer look at the relationship between STEM and Career and Technical Education. She’s impressed by the spread of middle school CTE programs and highlights the academic, technological and social goals and methods that STEM and CTE share.
Working to bring America’s Colonial Period to life in the classroom? Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis’ new toolkit will help history teachers engage students with primary sources, digital links and visual guides. “A gold mine!” says reviewer Linda Biondi.
The Power of Teacher Leaders will empower readers to mobilize colleagues to positively affect school change and student achievement through shared and collaborative practice. See it happen in case studies, says reviewer Linda Biondi. With an online study guide.
The Common Core expects students will support claims with evidence from a text. History teacher Aaron Brock shares an innovative technique he created to help weak readers in his under-resourced urban school develop an understanding of this process.
STEM curriculum expert Anne Jolly sees considerable potential for connecting sports to a variety of engineering challenges and attracting otherwise disengaged students to STEM programs. She shares a range of good resource sites, from NASA’s STEM Mania to the SF 49er STEM Zone.
Future of History / Lesson Planning
by Jody & Shara · Published 11/17/2014 · Last modified 12/02/2019
Last year Jody Passanisi concluded that her go-to lesson on types of government no longer gripped students’ attention. Here she evaluates the successes and challenges of a redesign: lots more student ownership, but is there enough understanding at the end?
Common Core / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 10/26/2014 · Last modified 12/10/2019
Teachers in every subject and type of classroom can tailor Common Core instruction to individual student needs using the Universal Design for Learning strategies, says instructional coach Elizabeth Stein, who provides a wealth of helpful resources.
Whitewater rafting with 6th graders puts plenty of excitement into Experiential Learning. Just back from the river, Kevin Hodgson describes sharing the 10-mile stretch of “instructional space” with 75 kids. A must-read for anyone planning such a trip!
Literacy expert Laura Robb offers her research-based argument for refocusing American school reform on strategies to strengthen support for teachers and promote opportunities for all children to become creative, divergent thinkers and problem solvers.
Future of History / Music for Understanding
by Jody & Shara · Published 10/05/2014 · Last modified 11/24/2019
When our social studies bloggers planned their U.S. History curriculum, they made sure to add contemporary music. The lyrics of rap and country decontextualize historical themes and let students make connections tying the past to the present.
