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 […]
Instruction & 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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Science Under Fire: A Day After the March for Science
In the morning hours of April 22, 2017—Earth Day—scientists, teachers, students, concerned citizens, and activists gathered in Washington D.C. to show their support for a single subject: science. There were no shouts for NGSS, no calls against Common Core, no jeering at climate change. Instead, all who gathered for the March for Science were attempting […]
The Struggles of Grading Writing: It’s the Process That Matters
I absolutely hate assigning a letter grade to student writing; it’s depressing. Not because my students are bad writers because they aren’t. It’s that I hate to see all the mini-lessons, and drafting, revising, editing, conversations, and growing as writers reduced to one letter. A percentage in the grade book. As soon as that grade is […]
Mathematical Conversations Aid Problem Solving
Mathematical conversations are among the most important connections that make math about solving problems instead of just calculating answers. They include discussions of how a problem was solved and whether or not the answer makes sense. Often teachers shy away from mathematical conversations thinking they will lead to students talking instead of working. In this second […]
Teaching English with Technology
As a 17-year veteran English teacher, I have seen many improvements and changes in the way that technology is incorporated into the classroom. Gone are the days of using the overhead projector, of rolling an outdated television set into the classroom, and of feverishly rewinding an old video cassette. Surprisingly, the days of grading papers […]