“Get your facts first,” quips satirist Mark Twain. “Then you can distort them as much as you please.” These words were first put to print in an 1899 Rudyard Kipling interview of the timeless sage, but they could have just as easily been written yesterday. In an era where the news makers are jabbing back […]
Instructional Strategies
Posted inInstructional Strategies
Five Strategies for Motivating the Student Who was Retained Last Year
Have you ever been saddled with a student who failed the previous year in your subject and found that they were either just as motivated or less motivated than the year before? Yeah. Me too. I took some time to research some strategies that will help us motivate those students who just didn’t make it […]
Posted inMathematics
An Invitation and a Demand for Equity in Mathematics
I heard a refreshing voice today. One that silenced the annoying diatribe I have encountered so many times in the past regarding the mathematics dilemma. (Caution: A moment of personal trajectory coming in 3…2…) As an African-American womyn, I am twice marginalized by the discipline of mathematics, and yet access to it has catapulted me […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Using Banned Books to Teach Resistance
Guest Post By Elena Heglund What might The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, Anne Frank the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, all have in common? This […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy
Close Reading and Deep Thinking = “Textploration”
My focus in this piece will be on inspiring truly close reading and deeper thinking as a facet of ELA instruction. When a reader can go beyond recall; go beyond simple inference and analysis, and go spelunking deep into reflection on and evaluation of story characters and elements (while using the text to support their […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Podcasts in the Classroom: Benefits, Tools, and Tips
In part one, I talked about some of my experiences with and the reasons for using podcasts in the classroom. This week, I will show you some uses, tips, and tools for using podcasts. Podcast Uses and Benefits Real-World Connections while Going Farther with Content Let’s face it. Sometimes our students are disconnected and board […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Podcasts in the Classroom: My Students
Author’s Note: This article is part 1 of using podcasts in the classroom and looks at my classes’ personal experiences with them. Part 2 of the article will focus on the benefits, uses, and tools of podcasts in the classroom. _________________________________________________________ In Spring 2016, my co-taught World Literature class sat furiously writing. On each desk […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
An Alternative to Book Reports: Assessing Independent Reading
I am a huge advocate for student choice when it comes to reading, but one thing that people repeatedly ask me is: How do you assess and grade students’ independent reading if they are all reading different books? I’ve written before about how I don’t use Reading Logs, but rather Response Notebooks. I use response […]