Fairness is a battle that is fought in everywhere in the United States. As teachers, we teach about fairness and the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Being aware of bias and unfair situations in the classroom is something I always strive to be aware of and I hope to bring awareness […]
Instructional Strategies
Posted inAdult Learning, Instructional Strategies, The Student Teacher Diaries
Learning To Teach: Helping Pre-Service Teachers
I am blessed to live in a small community just outside of a university town. With this comes the opportunity to have pre-service teachers in my classroom. While learning to teach, they are also my students. I have had the opportunity to work with early field students just beginning their educational work, students in their “block” classes beginning to teach […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies
The Importance of Teaching Study Habits
I was listening to my college-aged son awhile back talking with his friends during a study group. One of them brought up the idea of how funny it is to be in a ‘study’ group when none of them really knew how to study. They all had a good laugh and continued chit chatting about […]
Posted inFeatured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy, Series
Close and Critical Reading: What’s the Point?
This is the fourth post in a series about teaching Close and Critical Reading. The first post explaining what CCR is can be found here, the second on summary is here, and the third on writer’s craft is here. The third portion of Close and Critical Reading (CCR) asks the students: Why did the author write this? […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instructional Strategies
Ask Three Before Me: Encouraging Student Voice and Independence
I’m lucky to be married to a brilliant early childhood educator. But I’m not just bragging. I share this, because her perspective on teaching really young students we have has given me a lot of insights to my own work with third graders. One thing that has stayed with me is the way my wife […]
Posted inFeatured, Instructional Strategies, Interviews
Supplemental Education and the New SAT: Part I
There are many pathways beyond the traditional classroom for educators to use their expertise to help students. In our modern education environment, students learn invaluable lessons from their classroom teachers, but they must also learn to navigate the world of standardized testing. Especially if high school students plan to pursue post-secondary education, the classroom is not […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Instructional Strategies
Bilingual Education: Good For Everyone… and Dangerous Too
Recently The Educator’s Room posted an article for discussion on bilingual education from the Washington Post. The article asked “Why is bilingual education good for rich kids but bad for poor, immigrant kids?” Bilingual education, if you’re not familiar with the term, is teaching a second (or third, or fourth) language through content area instruction […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy
Close and Critical Reading: Author’s Craft
This post is the second in my series on strategies for teaching students to do Close and Critical Reading (CCR). The first post defining it is here. The next one, about strategies for teaching summary, is here. The second CCR question is How does the author say it? Students need to understand what rhetorical devices are and […]