In 180 Days Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle encourage teachers to meet “hidden standards” focusing on engagement in reading and writing via standards accessed through choice, relevance, and classroom culture. Educator Amy Estersohn finds some elements missing.
Nancy Akhavan encourages teachers to push away from assigned passages with worksheets that require canned responses, and instead promote more freedom in student thinking, and more reflection about their connection to the reading and writing going on in their classroom.
Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Sypnieski often ask their ELL students to make short oral presentations to a group or a partner “because it is more practical, time efficient, and energizing for students.” The four ideas shared here are easily adapted to any class or subject.
Glen Pearsall’s Fast and Effective Assessment focuses on making life easier for teachers while improving students’ learning and understanding, writes consultant Anne Anderson. Pearsall includes lots of ideas and efficient tools to create feedback that benefits students.
Middle school dean Bill Ivey says Rachel Simmons’s Enough As She Is will thoroughly illuminate and clarify what parents and teachers of girls are seeing and hearing and help those adults think through how best to be supportive as girls seek their best authentic selves.
Sarah Cooper’s Creating Citizens will ignite a passion for discovery, challenge students to seek information from wide ranging sources, and help them apply their learning and form their own opinions about history, civics and current events, writes Linda Biondi.
Given what we know about the adolescent brain, is it realistic to attempt to teach middle school students how to manage their emotions and use their best knowledge and judgment? Emotional intelligence expert Dr. Maurice Elias says it’s not only realistic but imperative.
Heart of the School / Understanding Protests
by Rita Platt · Published 07/02/2018 · Last modified 11/15/2019
How can teachers broach the topic as civic protest becomes more visible in society? NBCT Rita Platt offers resources for student reading and discussion “because learning to thoughtfully communicate ideas and entertain the ideas of others is a cornerstone of democracy.”
Leafing through Regie Routman’s Literacy Essentials feels not so much like reading a book as like talking with a master teacher, or maybe wading in and out of a calm ocean, writes teacher Sarah Cooper, who finds it a compendium of wisdom about teaching and about life.
To level, or not to level? Like many educational dilemmas there is no simple right or wrong answer. Literacy coach and author Regie Routman explores the limited role book leveling might play in supporting students to become engaged, deeply comprehending, joyful readers.
