The three small, easy-to-read books in The Cooperating Teacher Series will help standardize practices for the crucial-for-success classroom experience of the student teacher. Mary Langer Thompson says the helpful overview also offers essential specifics.
Why use a PBL approach when designing STEM lessons and programs? The answer may be obvious to PBL champions but for the rest of us, Christa Flores’ exploration of science and STEM teaching in a “making” classroom is a valuable resource, says STEM expert Anne Jolly.
Assessment / The Flexible Classroom
by Amber Chandler · Published 01/08/2017 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Amber Chandler is pondering testing. Not big league, high stakes exams but the run of the mill end-of-unit kind. When 20 percent of her students stumble over literary terms on The Giver unit test, she opts for a flexible (but controversial) “point buy-back” offer.
Weber, Crane and Hierck provide many charts, examples and resources that can be instantly adopted, adapted, or enhanced for a school or district RTI process in middle school math. Instructional coach and interventionist Kim Schneider offers her highest praise.
When students blend multimedia elements into their writing projects, interest and engagement can zoom up, writes teacher-author Sean Ruday. Ruday highlights a five-step process he uses in PD workshops to help teachers make the tech meaningful and not maddening.
Meaningful Math / Student-Teacher Connections
by Michelle Russell · Published 01/02/2017 · Last modified 12/11/2019
As Michelle Russell revisits her start-of-school teaching goals, she decides to focus the New Year on building deeper connections with her students. Her strategies: use personal surveys and follow-up chats; glean more from parents, and confer to set challenge goals.
BRAVO Principal, with its reflection questions and support exercises, is an effective resource for keeping school leaders centered on what matters most to promote the success of each of our students in our learning organizations, writes MS principal Dennis Schug.
Social Justice / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 12/27/2016 · Last modified 11/13/2019
It’s time, writes teaching coach Elizabeth Stein, for co-teachers to take a strong, visible and audible stance on behalf of those students “who have been on your mind every day since school began.” Co-teachers need to become social justice leaders in the classroom.
Before middle school students can become lovers of stories and savvy assessors of fake news and false claims, they must be creative readers who comprehend texts at high levels and empathize with characters and people, says literacy expert and advocate Laura Robb.
Class Apps / Cultural Awareness
by Curtis Chandler · Published 12/19/2016 · Last modified 12/10/2019
Teaching expert Curtis Chandler sees an urgent need for educators to help students become more aware, understanding, and appreciative of other nations and cultures. Here he offers a rich collection of web resources that can bring global diversity into the classroom.
