Nearly 20 years ago Jennifer Smith began having her fifth grade social studies students track hurricanes as part of their geography unit. Middle grades kids are excited to learn material that impacts their daily lives and spurs a sense of service and empathy for victims.
Amid the uncertainty facing teachers and principals this fall, Ronald Williamson and Barbara R. Blackburn offer strategies to keep the safety of students and staff uppermost, to communicate often with your school community, and to sustain your school’s culture.
Every child wants to be successful, but school can be a tough place for vulnerable students. To pull them into the success loop requires both an understanding of their plight and a willingness to fully support them with targeted strategies, writes Suzy Pepper Rollins.
Whatever grade you teach, you will find lots to use in Berit Gordon’s The Joyful Teacher, says reviewer Linda Biondi. Her expertly chosen resources, complete lessons, ideas for class environment, independent practice, assessment and more will help you and your students thrive.
As they teach vulnerable students, veteran and new teachers will benefit from reading Suzy Pepper Rollins’ well organized and conversationally written book full of data, strategies, and a clear understanding of the real-world struggles we face, writes Laura Von Staden.
We’ve collected our 16 most-read posts with pandemic themes, from March 15 through today. Each has thousands of visits, retweets and shares. Check out our summaries and explore – there’s plenty here to help with fall planning and teaching. And keep watching for more!
How do we put our young writers first? We seek to develop a mindset and actions that provide opportunity, dignity, and encouragement, says literacy expert Regie Routman. Then we carefully tailor feedback that celebrates strengths and boosts each and every writer’s confidence.
When it’s time to analyze a fiction or nonfiction text, don’t let students coast through the lesson by simply filling in a graphic organizer. Author and teaching coach Sunday Cummins has ideas that will help learners think about text structures conceptually and flexibly.
In his new book James Dillon takes a unique and potentially powerful approach to professional development, writes Anne Anderson. Dillion replaces the usual data and research with a collection of stories about teaching and learning gathered during his 40+ years’ of education experience.
Thomas P. Hébert looks into what enabled five talented young men to overcome adversity and at the factors that influenced the emergence and sustainability of their resilience. Included in what helped, the young men credit teachers, writes educator Elizabeth OBrien.
