It’s the semifinal round of the county debate tournament. The prize: a ticket to the county debate championship and a trip to Washington DC for nationals. Our varsity debate team went 4-0 in the preliminaries and smoked the competition in the quarter and semifinal rounds. I’m judging another debate so I don’t get to see […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inEnglish Language Learners, Instruction & Curriculum
Changes that Need to be Made in ESL
As an ESL teacher there are a few things that I wish would change in education today. These are things that specifically relate to English language learners. Of course, there are other aspects in education that could do with some tweaking, but for today The focus is ESL. 1. Licensing. Teaching English to speakers of […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Comma, Comma, Comma…Comma Cameleon
Have you ever read the book, Flowers for Algernon? It is the story set in the 1960’s of a special needs adult man named Charlie who undergoes surgery to increase his intelligence. At the beginning of the story, Charlie can write much as a young child can write, but he does not understand the concept of commas. After the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Social Studies, Technology
Week 5/6: iPad Rollout- Differentiation
Living in Vermont means making amends for educational productivity when a perfect snowstorm blankets the state. Students and teachers embrace the cold powder while it lasts. We ski, we snowboard, we play hard. No wonder Vermont supplies a proportionate number of Olympians. At school we gained one actual snow day and then a week of […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Independent Reading Book Choice Questions
Independent reading in our school grades 7-12 means students read books of their own choosing, make recommendations, and keep records of what they read. Because of a illness on my staff, we have a substitute (Natalie) who is an enthusiastic graduate of our high school school with a BS degree in Creative Writing. She has been […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized
Fight! Fight! Illinois Teachers Refuse to Administer ISAT State Test
There is another battle this week between parents and teachers against Chicago Public Schools and it centers on testing. Threats from the board include disciplinary action against teachers including the revocation of teacher certification. Next week, the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) is administered to grade school students across the city and state. The test takes […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Middle School, Uncategorized
My Son Only Read One Book in Middle School
This morning as I helped my son organize his bookshelf I asked him a question that came over me as I looked over his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series on his shelf, “what books did you enjoy most while in 6th and 7th grade?” He looked up at me like only a middle school […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Technology
Google Conference Shows Power of Tech in Education
Technology can greatly enhance instruction by encouraging meaningful collaboration, creation, and developing 21st-century skills. This was the main message of last weekend’s conference in Roseville, Calif. (near Sacramento). Known as a “GAFE” Summit (Google Apps for Education), this two-day event provided inspiration and technical know-how for integrating the use of Chromebooks and other Google technologies […]