Green STEM Projects / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 04/06/2014 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Earth Day: Science educator Anne Jolly remembers her first and best STEM project, when disengaged 8th graders learned how cool math, science and engineering could be by constructing a wetlands to reduce the environmental impact of a new school.
Donalyn Miller’s Reading in the Wild is a great workshop-focused resource for any ELA teacher who wants to cultivate lifelong reading habits and is “looking for a viable alternative to traditional instruction,” says teacher-reviewer Tyler McBride.
Cheryl Rose Tobey and Emily R. Fagan offer a detailed handbook to help teachers evaluate students’ understanding of math in their new book, Uncovering Student Thinking About Mathematics and the Common Core (Grades 3-5), says reviewer Linda Biondi.
Thomas Newkirk urges us to consider how, in a test-crazed culture, we can stay focused on what matters for our students. Holding On To Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones is not a literacy ‘how-to’ book, says Jenni Miller, but important nonetheless.
Former principal Sue Stephenson describes how she and a team of teachers recently helped seventh graders prepare and perform standup comedy routines, all the while learning serious writing, speaking and personal living skills. Video link included!
In her book about the social life of networked teens, Internet scholar danah boyd “issues a call to all of us who are adults to take more time to understand the shifts now taking place,” 6th grade teacher Kevin Hodgson writes. The guidance role of teachers & parents “has never been more important, nor more complicated.”
Working with a group of teachers openly wary of technology, Kevin Hodgson offered this writing prompt: “Recall your first aha moment about tech and teaching.” And then, like the good writing teacher he is, he shared his own story as a model.
Inclusion Classrooms / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 02/23/2014 · Last modified 12/14/2019
In a new post at the Two Teachers in the Room blog, special educator Elizabeth Stein shares her ideal classroom: profiles a fatally flawed classroom; and offers steps to achieve the first & avoid the second.
Good writing instruction doesn’t have to be complicated, says literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo. No matter what genre you’re teaching – a paragraph, a timed essay or a full-blown research paper – she recommends these basic steps. Rubric included!
Every art teacher could benefit by having The Art Teacher’s Survival Guide for Elementary and Middle Schools by Helen Hume in their personal libraries, says reviewer Carrie Manders. It may not be one you use every day, but it is one to reference on a regular basis.
