“Put the uncommon effort into the common task. Make it large by doing it in a great way,“ Orison Sweet Marden (1850-1924). As winter hits us full force, we stand in our classrooms at the top of a mountain looking down. Half way through the year we feel settled in with routine and expectation. We look […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum
Online Teaching – the New Frontier for Educators
The nature of education is fast changing, and as a result, teaching itself has begun to take many new forms. Online schools are new avenues that more and more teachers are beginning to explore. Like any new venture, online education must learn effective ways to incorporate skilled teaching and a variety of communication forms between […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Kill Your Idols: A Case for Contemporary Literature
When I go out to eat, I often eavesdrop on the conversations of my fellow diners. Not long ago, I overheard a particularly interesting discussion between two teachers. They were discussing a familiar quandary among English teachers: What are the virtues of teaching classical literature to a generation who just doesn’t get it? It’s a […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Opinion
What Are We Accelerating in the Classroom?
As teachers we know how important it is to encourage reading in our classrooms, no matter what subject we teach. We equate reading success to lifelong success all around. As teachers we also know how incredibly busy our days are and how difficult it can be to meet children’s needs who either need daily remediation […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Homeschooling: 10 Action Items To Help You Start Right
by: Jackie Bledsoe The start to homeschooling can be a daunting task for first timers. Especially for those coming from a traditional school environment. For traditional school families there are some preparation tasks, but not a whole lot. Tasks such as purchasing basic school supplies, attending orientations, showing up for meet-the-teacher night, and making sure their […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Opinion, Parents
Pay It Backwards: Reach Out to Your Former Teachers
Growing up, I remember learning about Benjamin Franklin explaining life’s assurances: “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” He was explaining to a French pen pal that the American experiment was as raw as it was unpredictable. The Constitution and our fledgling country were trees in the desert, […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Social Studies
Informational Text for Social Studies or English: “The Perils of Indifference” by Elie Wiesel
By my calculations, at the mid-point of the school year, many World History classes are studying World War II. Should these classes want to increase their use of an informational text in English or Social Studies curriculum, I suggest Elie Wiesel’s noteworthy speech The Perils of Indifference. Wiesel delivered this speech to Congress on April 12, […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Guided Reading–Pick Any (Fiction) Book
Guided reading is a teaching strategy that has gained attention and popularity over the past ten years for good reason. This method of teaching reading (to elementary students) groups them according to their instructional text reading level. It incorporates skills, comprehension strategies, writing, and text decoding. There are many companies with canned programs and resources […]