This semester, along with leading 24 fourth graders through the second half of the school year, I will be mentoring a student teacher. It was 20 years ago I went through this journey on the other side. Things have changed drastically in education during that time. First of all, the vocabulary. Tomorrow I will begin […]
Elementary School
An elementary school is a primary school for children between the ages of 5-11 and between the grades prekindergarten and secondary education.
Posted inClassroom Management, Elementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics
Elementary Math: One Approach to Differentiation
When I was an elementary student, many years ago, I was a quick learner. I remember sitting in the classroom and looking for ways to challenge myself. I was often reading/working ahead or helping others around me. I was thrilled when I made it into junior high and was able to take upper level math classes. Here, […]
Posted inElementary School, English Language Learners, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Science, Social Studies, Uncategorized
Avoiding Round Robin in All Subject Areas
I am always amazed that the Round Robin reading still exists. The empirical evidence has shown that it is an ineffective teaching method. Just being an observant teacher would make you realize the kids are bored and off task. Worst of all, it brings humiliation to students who struggle with reading or English. So how […]
Posted inCommon Core, Elementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Social Studies
Teaching Strategy: Adding Primary Sources to Elementary Social Studies
I don’t care which television news channel you select – I hate them all. Why? There are a variety of reasons. For one, they are all emotion, little fact. They focus on sound bites instead of the whole speech. They care way too much about celebrity and not about the common person. Most of all, […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Elementary School
Artsy Smartsy
[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”] Monkey, my three-year-old, “wrote” a dinosaur song a couple of weeks ago. He drew shapes and letters and has it sitting on the piano. He will play and sing his song, […]
Posted inElementary School, Instructional Strategies, Special Education
How to Differentiate Instruction
In my last post, I talked about the difference between an accommodation and a modification, two things that many educators have a difficult time differentiating between. Accommodations and modifications generally get utilized by students with 504 plans and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Differentiation becomes a sticky topic these days, though, as we educators feel the […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Teaching to New Rules:Phonics for Upper Elementary
From the day children are born, the race is on here in America. Boy or girl? Weight? Length? And so it begins; how does your child measure up with “average” child their age? We watch for those important milestones. Rolls over, check! Sits up, check! Babbles, check! Crawls, check! Walks, check! The list goes on […]
Posted inElementary School, Instructional Strategies
How to Focus Instruction: Two Ways to Easily Increase Rigor
In education today, our goal as teachers is to increase rigor and learning in our classrooms. Rigorous instruction is instruction that is thorough and focused content. As an educator, it sounds awesome! Your lessons are already focused and well thought out. So how exactly do you go about doing this without adding more to your […]