When I talk to math teachers I tend to forget that most math teachers see themselves as an “expert” in teaching mathematics. So, last night’s Twitter Chat was not any different. If you have ever participated in a Twitter chat you know that the chat is an hour long with about 5 to 6 questions […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
The Reading Paradigm: Quality vs. Quantity in Reading Instruction
When you first started teaching reading, did you think your students had to read all those books that come with the reading program? I did. I opened my box, pulled out the teacher’s manual, organized the basals, decodable readers, and leveled readers. We would read the story in the reading book (basal), then break off […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Social Studies
Cafe Walk: Review of Learning
In my past 20 years as an educator teaching has changed. I love seeing the active involvement of students in their learning. Gone are the days of lecture, record, regurgitate. Students jump into learning and show what they know in a variety of ways. With that, there are a variety of ways to review what has […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Professional Development, Technology, Uncategorized
One-to-One Presentations=”Contextus”
Last month, I travelled to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to attend the 2015 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention with two fellow teachers to participate in poster sessions under the topic Digital Pedagogies and Approaches to Media. One of the poster session was titled “Every Picture Tells a Story” and offered by Catherine Flynn, the Literacy Specialist […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
The Season of Time
This morning in church our pastor talked about the limited time we have from Thanksgiving to Christmas. As a society we have become this time driven people, always moving towards the next thing. You have seen the memes, thankful today for all that I have but Black Friday shopping tomorrow. We have somehow done away with time. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Why Reading Logs Have to Go
“Children should learn that reading is pleasure, not just something that teachers make you do in school.” ~Beverly Cleary Reading Logs: On the first day of school, I welcome my 8th graders to my English class with a survey about their reading life. I ask them to be extremely honest, so I can gauge where […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies
What Makes a Great Unit?
With so many skills and so many concepts, units are a necessity. We can become overwhelmed with the amount of material we have to cover in a short time. I have learned I only focus on one unit at a time. A unit is a set amount of skills or concepts tied to a literary […]
Posted inEducational Apps, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Series, Technology
Adventures in Going Paperless: Step Two, Navigating Digital Feedback
After realizing my endless stacks of grading were threatening to swallow my sanity, I took the leap into embracing technology. However, what I found initially was that while stacks were fewer and my desk cleaner, my anxiety levels were not lower. In my quest for a new organizational system, I moved to using Turnitin.com for […]