[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] If nothing else, the Common Core State Standards’ (CCSS) contribution to the academic lexicon will be the renaming of the genre known as non-fiction to a larger genre of informational texts. […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Opinion
Days of Remembrance: JFK’s and Lincoln’s Legacies in the Classroom
“Four score and seven years ago…” The first words of Mr. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address ring through the annals of every American history textbook ever written. Now 150 years later, seven score and a decade, the speech remains America’s greatest. It was just nine sentences long and took not much longer than 2 minutes to deliver. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Special Education
Special Education Assistants: 5 Steps to Getting Assessment Support Just Right (Part 2)
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Part 1 of this series offered 5 areas of ongoing professional development for Education Assistants. In this installment, I provide EA’s with 5 steps to help determine what level of […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, School Improvement, Social Studies
Student Motivation Starts With Zombies!
Incentives inspire learning because incentives drive choices. I learn this every time I buy a Starbucks coffee and receive a free app or song download. My app can guide me by GPS to any coffee shop where I use free wifi and earn stars that eventually gain me a free coffee. This has me wondering […]
Posted inCommon Core, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Step Up and Teach- Part 3: ELA Speaking and Listening Standards
Read Part 1 of this series about Reading Standards here. Read Part 2 of this series about Writing Standards here. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] With the push of state testing and No Child Left […]
Posted inChild Development, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum
Moving Into Young Adulthood – The Development of Our 14-16 Year-Olds
Those of us who are fortunate enough to watch our fourteen-, fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds develop into young men and women sit with bated breath as they begin making choices in life that will stick with them for some time. Let’s see where these kiddos are in their five areas of development. Cognitive Development: These kids […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Current Events in Education, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Middle School
Step Up and Teach – Part 2: ELA Writing Standards
Read Part 1 of this series about Reading Standards here. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Princess, my first grader, writes all of the time. One day in kindergarten, after getting into trouble at home, I […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Why Not Teach to the Advanced Placement Test?
The recent invitation to respond to the statement “Don’t Teach the Test” was under discussion in the New York Times: Invitation to a Dialogue series. The question was posed by Peter Schmidt, the director of studies at Gill St. Bernard’s School, and he singled out two tests in particular: the SAT and the Advanced Placement Tests. Schmidt suggested that the SAT […]