One of the skills I see kids lacking consistently is the ability to find information on their own. Resourcefulness used to come almost innately, but nowadays it’s missing in action. One of the ways I try to teach this skill is with journals. We use journals for just about everything in my class. Most of […]
Posted inFeatured
35 Teacher Thoughts As Summer Ends…
Summer is ending, and another school year is just around the corner. Here’s a list of 25 summer thoughts that only teachers will understand. 1. NOT ALREADY! NOOOOOO! 2. What do you mean we have to go back already? I didn’t even get to go on vacation yet! 3. Staples and Wal-Mart better stop […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured
Why Robin Williams Helped Me Be a Teacher and an Adult
[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”] Since I write for an education magazine, there isn’t always a need to write about celebrity news. But when I heard the news that Robin Williams had passed away on August 11th, I felt […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Elementary School, Instruction & Curriculum
Teaching Champions
[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”] We had an amazing in-service in our district this week. In a time where your focus is on class lists and curriculum, bulletin boards and name tags, it is refreshing to […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy
Informational Texts: Legos "Lost at Sea"
[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”] Those tiny, multi-colored plastic building bits called Legos have a dedicated, even obsessive, fan base. Such fanaticism is the reason why I thought the following story I recently heard on National Public Radio […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Opinion
John Keating is Dead and Yet He Echoes in My Ears
I am thirty-eight years old and until yesterday I never knew what it felt like to experience a throbbing and palpable sadness over the death of a celebrity. Superlatives abound on a global scale for a man who embodied a form of dramaturgical genius that is perhaps the most eclectic of our time. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics
Fractions – Parts of a Whole
Fractions can be one of the most frustrating topics to teach to elementary school children. Linking the experience of your students with fractions in their daily lives to fractions in the classroom can make this task easier. Young children have early experiences with the concept of fractions when they want to share a sandwich with […]
Posted inBook Review, Featured, High School, Literacy, Opinion
The Advantage of Disadvantage – Part II – A Book Review
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell Publisher: Brown and Company (October 1, 2013) [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”] Have you ever wondered what makes a person successful? Does […]