The quickest way to send any teacher into a frenzy is to make us sit in an ineffective PLC (professional learning community) meeting. We’d rather grade a million essays, meet with an irate parent or even hear nails scratched on our chalkboard–anything but another meeting that tells us how to use graphic organizers. After […]
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Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum
Online Teaching – the New Frontier for Educators
The nature of education is fast changing, and as a result, teaching itself has begun to take many new forms. Online schools are new avenues that more and more teachers are beginning to explore. Like any new venture, online education must learn effective ways to incorporate skilled teaching and a variety of communication forms between […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Uncategorized
Kill Your Idols: A Case for Contemporary Literature
When I go out to eat, I often eavesdrop on the conversations of my fellow diners. Not long ago, I listened in on a particularly interesting discussion that involved two teachers. They were discussing a familiar quandary among English teachers: What are the virtues of teaching classical literature to a generation who just doesn’t get […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Opinion
What Are We Accelerating in the Classroom?
As teachers we know how important it is to encourage reading in our classrooms, no matter what subject we teach. We equate reading success to lifelong success all around. As teachers we also know how incredibly busy our days are and how difficult it can be to meet children’s needs who either need daily remediation […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Opinion, Parents
Pay It Backwards: Reach Out to Your Former Teachers
Growing up, I remember learning about Benjamin Franklin explaining life’s assurances: “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” He was explaining to a French pen pal that the American experiment was as raw as it was unpredictable. The Constitution and our fledgling country were trees in the desert, […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Social Studies
Informational Text for Social Studies or English: “The Perils of Indifference” by Elie Wiesel
By my calculations, at the mid-point of the school year, many World History classes are studying World War II. Should these classes want to increase their use of an informational text in English or Social Studies curriculum, I suggest Elie Wiesel’s noteworthy speech The Perils of Indifference. Wiesel delivered this speech to Congress on April 12, […]
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Navigating Your Administration: Five Tips From a Teacher's Perspective
To the frustrated, tired, spread-too-thin public (and private) school teacher, communicating with and understanding the dynamics of your administrative team–or your single administrator–can be one of the most difficult parts of the job, even in a best-case scenario. I have worked for excellent administrators and those that… weren’t as easy to work with. I will not seek […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Uncategorized
The Emperor’s New Clothes: There’s No Magic Answer in Reading
Let us face it- in education many of us are waiting for some fairy reading tales to come true. For instance, we may be hoping to meet Prince Charming and live in his magnificent castle. However, nobody wants to walk down the street without clothes, even in our nightmares. I contend that most commercial reading […]