Peer feedback is an essential tool to build stronger writers. But how exactly does one encourage fruitful peer feedback? I struggled with finding the best method that would stimulate meaningful comments among my students. At first, I would have students exchange papers and use generic checklists with items like “Is the thesis statement clear?” or […]
Literacy
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Written Text or Audiotext in the Classroom? We Should Have Both
I am passing out Brave New World to the 10th graders.“Is there an audiobook for this?” a student asks.“Why not just read the book?” I respond.“I can’t read this without help,” explains the student.“I’ll see,” I sigh. I admit that in the past I had been a little frustrated at these requests. I felt as though the […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Shakespeare Doesn’t Have to be Scary! Six Tips to Help you Start Teaching Shakespeare and be Glad You Did!
In my first year of teaching, I wanted to teach a Shakespeare play, but was completely intimidated by where to start. I befriended the most veteran member of our English department, an actress, director and drama teacher, who gave me fantastic tips and assured me that I would love it and that students would, too. […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Literacy, New Teacher Bootcamp, Opinion
Creating Confident Readers Out of Struggling and Reluctant Readers
So, it’s directed reading time. I have my readers grouped according to ability and the groups are reading different books, which I have geared toward the students in the particular groups. I have a group who collectively love animals, so we are reading Trouble According to Humphrey. I have another group who are mostly boys […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Literacy, Uncategorized
ESL Students in the General Education Classroom
Help! I have a new student in the middle of February who doesn’t speak any English! What should I do? Sound familiar? This often happens at my school. English Language Learners (ELL), or English as a Second Language (ESL) students, are part of a very transient population. Sometimes students will even leave mid-year for a month […]
Posted inCommon Core, Current Events in Education, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Languages, Literacy
What Common Core ELA Is Doing For Me
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~Victor Frank I think it is exciting to see the changes coming with the Common Core State Standards Initiative, especially with regard to English Language Arts. I have been learning how these standards will impact my students; it is […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
They’re Not Digital Natives, They’re Digital Tourists!
To all those who claim that all students today are digital “natives,” I beg to disagree. Digital natives are defined as those people who have grown up using technology daily beginning in the 1960s, but the term is more commonly used to describe those born in the 21st Century. According to the PBS Frontline Website, Digital Natives […]
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 […]