The most effective teachers know that if you want to have a great lesson, you need to plan a great lesson, say experts Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux. Novice teachers will appreciate their handy planning checklist. Bonus download: How to overplan!
Girls are smart, creative, and talented – they have the right stuff for STEM careers. So where are they? It’s still a front-burner issue – the lack of women in STEM. Anne Jolly talks with several experts, including Chevron executive Blair Blackwell.
When students are challenged to “close read” a movie, they must not only learn how to deconstruct the story, they must also understand the many techniques that are used by filmmakers to create the total effect, says expert Frank Baker.
“I’ve been accumulating guiding principles for creating highly motivating homework assignments for many years,” writes expert Rick Wormeli. “Here are a baker’s dozen. Choose the ones most appropriate for students’ learning goals and your curriculum.”
David Booth’s Caught in the Middle is one of those rare books that truly has the capacity to help a teacher carve out a roadmap for a successful year of working with middle school readers and writers, says reviewer Jenni Miller.
Advertising: it’s everywhere. As media literacy educators work to engage students in conversations about commercial marketing, we have to consider the close reading of print and video ads. Frank Baker provides starting points and resources for teachers.
Embracing Technology / Kids on the Cusp
by Mary Tarashuk · Published 07/16/2014 · Last modified 11/16/2019
This summer middle grades teacher Mary Tarashuk is diving into the deep end of the technology pool, accepting a challenging online leadership role. Yet she’s determined to protect the beach time she needs for family and reflection on the school year ahead.
Bringing online conversations around books into the schoolhouse can prepare our students for what reading looks like today and tomorrow, says K-5 principal Matt Renwick. He highlights the development of his school’s first student digital book club.
Teaching children how to meaningfully participate in math conversations can be daunting, say educators Elham Kazemi and Allison Hintz. The authors of Intentional Talk share four principles to help teachers lead deeper, more productive discussions.
It’s hard to put down Readers Front & Center: Helping All Students Engage with Complex Texts, says our reviewer. Dorothy Barnhouse shows teachers how to focus on the reader, not the text, by using conferencing, questioning & other student-centered strategies.
