It has been a long time since I started my high school class with this opening, “Today I’m going to tell you a story… and only you have the power to save the world…” My gaming team of devoted educators advised me to take a plunge into an all-out game experience with Breakout EDU. While […]
Instructional Strategies
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Principals' Corner
Differentiation Isn’t Dead
Differentiation is the one word in education that make the most subdued educators scream out in pain. Principals use it in evaluations like it’s going out of style, and content specialists talk about it like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Meanwhile, educators maintain intense fear when the word “differentiation” is uttered in conversation because […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Principals' Corner
Differentiation Isn't Dead
Differentiation is the one word in education that make the most subdued educators scream out in pain. Principals use it in evaluations like it’s going out of style, and content specialists talk about it like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Meanwhile, educators maintain intense fear when the word “differentiation” is uttered in conversation because […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Common Core, Elementary School, English Language Learners, ESOL, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Literacy, Special Education, Technology
5 Ways to Use Emojis in the Classroom
I realized almost immediately that I wasn’t getting through to my Kindergartners… again. I asked a class full of 5-year-olds to identify feeling words, and I got the same generic responses – happy, sad, mad. Year after year, I struggle with how to teach my primary students, especially my English Language Learners, to use precise […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Instructional Strategies
[The Rural School Chronicles] A Toolbox for Working With Challenging Students
At the beginning of this year, I noticed a boy who is in one of the homerooms I work closely with. Stationed at the end of a hall to watch students as they come in, near his room, I would see him approach. Head down, eyes down, every day; a look on his face that […]
Posted inChild Development, Current Events in Education, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Middle School, New Teacher Bootcamp, School Improvement, Teacher Burnout
The Final Days of School
Charles Swindoll said, “Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, money, circumstances, than failures and success, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, ability or skill. It will make or break a business, a home, a friendship, an organization. The […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mini Thought Bubble on Performance Assessments
I recently returned from the Deeper Learning conference for educators in California with my mind imploding from an abundance of ideas. The three-day conference hosted at High Tech High in San Diego presented a broad exploration of equity framed in student experiences that shape education today and tomorrow. Usually, my conference euphoria ends up like a dusty book on […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instructional Strategies
Teaching in a Time of Coercion
Last week, my fellow TER writer, Jessica Classen, wrote about being kinder to our students in the classroom. It reminded me of some research that came out a few years ago about how the levels of depression and anxiety rise in societies that have higher levels of coercion. I have been thinking a lot about how we […]