Twice this summer, I found myself thinking that maybe educators are not taking advantage on how we could show films in class. We seldom, if ever, show the film’s credits. Perhaps the lack of attention to film credits is because there is not enough time already for what many educators might consider a passive activity […]
High School
Posted inFeatured, High School, Literacy, Series
Close and Critical Reading: What did we just read?
Last week, I introduced the concept of Close & Critical Reading (CCR). While we begin the strategies with all ages, we (currently) use the vocabulary of CCR starting with our seventh graders. The first of the four questions is “What is the text about?” This seems easy enough, having students summarize what they read, however, many kids have […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Classroom Management, From the Front Lines, High School
Advice from Adventures in Seating Plans
The seating plan is often thought of as an important element for student success. From the first day of school, the seating plan is a teacher’s strategy for learning student names, and student names can be the most important piece of information a teacher can gather the first day of school. For that reason most teachers choose to use […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Current Events in Education, From the Front Lines, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
Stolen Pens and Broken Tape: How to Create Boundaries in Classrooms
One day, I walked into my classroom to discover I had less pencils than the day before. I hadn’t given any out, so this made no sense. Then I found a broken white-out tape dispenser hidden among my things. I sighed and put things in my desk that I didn’t want taken. A few days […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Uncategorized
The Quietly Rebellious Teacher
I’m a teacher. I believe in rules, structure, and consistency. To a point. I am not the end-all, be-all authority on education. I feel confident in my classroom and I know my students just like you know yours. But I am tired of people in positions other than in a classroom making decisions for my […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, High School, Literacy
Creating Safe Spaces Within Our Classrooms
This year I will begin my “lucky” thirteenth year in the classroom in my current district, and my second year teaching junior high. One of my strengths as a teacher is my classroom management. It’s been something that has come naturally to me ever since my days of student teaching and I credit it all to […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics, Middle School
Helping With Middle School Math Homework
This article is for both parents and teachers who deal with middle school students. In recent years there has been a great amount of change in how math is taught in school. My 30 years of teaching middle school math has shown me that these years are very important for students to have and feel successful in […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, How to Fix Education, Instructional Strategies, Literacy
The Challenge of Getting to that Messy First Draft
She had been staring at her screen for fifteen minutes. My students were supposed to be writing the first draft of a literary analysis essay, but Jamae was clearly not making progress. When I initially saw her struggling, I asked if everything was OK. She just nodded and kept staring, so after a few minutes […]