When we get close to the end of the year I like to leave my students with a bit of reflection for the future. In a matter-of-fact and “non-preachy” way, I tell them that the most crucial issue that their generation will inherit is the environment. In fact, despite what students hear from many political […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inSocial Studies
6 Tips on Teaching Social Studies in a Politically-Charged Era
I’ve been challenged by parents plenty of times in my career. However, one that often protrudes in my mind is a 12-page email I received 7 years ago. In teaching about the post-Civil War Reconstruction, I shared both the late Abraham Lincoln and Radical Republican plans for what the South would look like as the […]
Posted inCommon Core
Teaching Writing With Hyperdocs
If you’re looking for a new approach to teaching writing, you’ve got to try teaching with hyperdocs. What are hyperdocs? According to their creators, Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton and Sarah Landis, hyperdocs are “a transformative, interactive, personalized engaging too to help facilitate student creativity and collaboration” (The Hyperdoc Handbook). And I can testify that hyperdocs […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Reading Response Prompts for Nonfiction
In March, I shared how I create reading response prompts for my 8th-grade ELA students. Since then, I have gotten inquiries from other content areas about what sorts of prompts are appropriate for nonfiction texts. Many of my students choose to read nonfiction, but sometimes, we all read nonfiction together. Other content areas tend to […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Making the Most out of Teachers Pay Teachers
After seventeen years in the classroom, I now realize that if I had charged a dollar for every time a colleague of mine “borrowed” materials I created for my classroom, I’d probably be rich! Being a successful educator requires collaboration and sharing; I have not only allowed teachers to use my materials, but many of […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Conquering Teacher Biases Against Disabilities: Important Strategies
Last week, I wrote about teacher bias against special education students: a topic that struck a chord for many teachers for a variety of reasons. How can we achieve equity in education with biases in place? The answer? We can’t. But there are ways to help deal with biases, whether our own or someone else’s. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Six Books for Secondary Teachers on Teaching Students to Write
Writing across the curriculum is not a new idea. In fact, for over a decade we have seen professional development and training about how to incorporate more writing in more content areas other than ELA. The National Writing Project (NWP) has been a leader in the pursuit of bringing more and better writing instruction to […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
A Teacher’s Goodbye to His Preacher
In the Bible, Jesus is referred to by the term “rabbi” at least 15 times, mostly by his disciples. The amount of times that He “taught” or “teaches” people is debatable, but one can argue that each time Jesus talked, there was a lesson that was to be involved. No, Jesus didn’t differentiate or call […]