The human brain weighs about 3 pounds, and, according to Jensen (2005), is adaptable in nature, has good integration between structures, and is sophisticated. Certainly, something to marvel at, the human brain has the capacity to do things that science has just begun to identify. As teachers, learning more about the brain and how it […]
Teresa
Teresa Cooper is a 30-something divorced mom and teacher from North Carolina. She has a Masters of Science in Education for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment from Walden University and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Creative from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Having struggled with anxiety and depression most of her life and later having birthed a child with autism, she is passionate about spreading awareness and acceptance of mental illness and autism. After 13 years in education, she has a wealth of knowledge to share on education and bonding with children.
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Differentiated Assessments in the Inclusion Classroom and Beyond
A great way to begin a discussion on differentiated assessments is to answer, “What does the word assessment mean to you?” This question holds a lot of meaning for a lot of different people. For some teachers, assessment means giving students quizzes and tests. For others, it means much more. In order to determine how […]
Posted inTeacher Burnout
Ode to the Tired Teacher: Keep on Keeping On
Inevitably, as we get closer to the middle of the school year, all the hard work we put into teaching the future leaders of America begins to exhaust us. That said, it’s important not to give in. Our resolve, as tired as we may become, will determine the success or failure of the students we […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Teach Like Someone is Watching–Because Someone is Always Watching
Do you ever feel that you aren’t teaching at your best? Not that you are deliberately not trying, but that you aren’t being deliberate about how you teach all of the time? Sometimes I go home and think about how the day has gone and realize, that I could have done better. So what, right? […]
Posted inSpecial Education
My Math Learning Disability: A Student Perspective
As a student with a math learning disability, there are a lot of difficulties I experience in the classroom that get in the way of my learning, including “memory, language, attention, temporal-sequential ordering, higher order cognition, and spatial ordering” (WGBH Educational Foundation, 2002). Many times, as I sit in the classroom, I feel like I […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Why and How to Start an Interactive Notebook in Math
Last year, I began an interactive notebook in my math class after a lot of thought about the process. I had already begun the school year and didn’t want to change up how I did things but wound up deciding midway through the year to begin interactive notebooks. In the end, the decision to start the […]
Posted inBack to School
10 Terrific Team-Building Activities for Secondary Students
Once students reach Middle School and beyond, teachers often believe that students must know each other already. As a result, team-building often gets skipped. Last year, I realized that some of my students didn’t know each other after all. This moment came two-thirds of the way through the year, when I asked a student to get “Charlie” […]
Posted inBack to School
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Believing in ALL Students
Tell me if these statements sound familiar to you: “Johnny will never understand how to divide with fractions.” “Andre scored a Level 1 on his test last year…we really need to focus on the students we can move to proficiency.” “Victoria doesn’t even know how to write a sentence. There’s no way she’ll ever write a […]