I have a rule in my classroom: [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][bctt tweet=”If at least one parent isn’t worried or upset with my curriculum at all times then I am not doing my job.”] But Wait! […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School
Creating Utopia: How Kids See The World
This month, my students are learning to see the differences in the world. They’re reading The Giver, a dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry in the 1990s. The Giver relates the story of Jonas, a 12 year-old boy living in a community of sameness, a community in which there is no color, no differences, no […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Opinion
SUPERPOWER Schools
It happened. One day on a teacher in-service-workday, I was having a total meltdown, so on my lunch hour I went to see a 4th grade teacher-friend of mine in another school. As I walked through her building, I quickly noticed everyone was at lunch, and she was to nowhere to be found, so I decided to […]
Posted inEducational Apps, Instructional Strategies, Social Studies
Transformative Moments in Student Centered Learning
There is no one I know who wants to be made aware of faults on a daily basis. Intentions to provide students with good guidance often become part of a litany of continuous criticism for students moving through several classes each day. The growing list of changes, edits and scores less than satisfactory seldom diminish and frequently are left untouched. My […]
Posted inFeatured
Why I Read To Eighth Graders
They have to read on their own. You should be assigning reading and having them read it, not reading it all to them. That’s spoon-feeding. I have heard this for the past thirteen years I’ve been teaching. When I taught high school English, I would read The Odyssey aloud to my ninth graders, The Great Gatsby to my […]
Posted inUncategorized
[Episode 9]: Should Teachers Get Their Doctorate Degree?
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Posted inClassroom Management, Featured
Why Emotions Matter in the Classroom
A teacher’s job is about more than just knowledge of content area. At times, it seems that so much of what we do every day has more to do with teaching social skills and everyday life skills than what our subject matter. Is it a waste of time to focus on the emotional well-being of the […]
Posted inHigh School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy, Uncategorized
Close and Critical Reading: So What?
This is the final post in the Close and Critical Reading (CCR) Series. If you want to catch up: The first post defines what CCR is and why all teachers should be using it to instruct their students in reading. The second post discusses the importance of teaching summary. The third post examines why it is important […]