After realizing my endless stacks of grading were threatening to swallow my sanity, I took the leap into embracing technology. However, what I found initially was that while stacks were fewer and my desk cleaner, my anxiety levels were not lower. In my quest for a new organizational system, I moved to using Turnitin.com for […]
Series
Posted inGoing Paperless, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Series, Technology
Adventures in Going Paperless: Step One, Taking the Leap
urnA few years ago, my best teacher friend and I decided the entire population of the world could be dived into two kinds of people: spreadsheet people and stack people. Spreadsheet people sort and file. They label and color-code. Their organizational world is akin to the beloved spreadsheet after which they are named and on […]
Posted inFeatured, Series, Uncategorized
A Closer Look at School Choice: New Orleans
In part three of this series on school choice I am going to take a look at the all charter school district in New Orleans. Education reformers are touting this “experiment” as a possible solution to the problems found in districts with a large percentage of poor children and children of color. Superintendents from all […]
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 inFeatured, High School, Literacy, Series
Close and Critical Reading: What did we just read?
Last week, I introduced the concept of Close & Critical Reading (CCR). While we begin the strategies with all ages, we (currently) use the vocabulary of CCR starting with our seventh graders. The first of the four questions is “What is the text about?” This seems easy enough, having students summarize what they read, however, many kids have […]
Posted inFeatured, Series, Teacher Leaders
How to Own the Leadership of Your Classroom: Investing Others
This post is the second in a series on classroom-centered teacher leadership. The first part on crafting a vision is here. It’s estimated that teachers are responsible from 1,500 to 3,000 nontrivial decisions every day. And yet, many of us don’t feel in control of our classrooms. Depending on the school we may have some […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy, School Improvement, Series
What is Close and Critical Reading?
More than six years ago my school district found itself on the state’s list of failing schools. We were not making annual yearly progress (AYP) and it was becoming evident that we couldn’t keep doing what we had always been doing. Our demographics had drastically changed when the industry-heavy area began to crumble and families […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Series, Teacher Leaders
How to Own the Leadership of Your Classroom: Craft a Vision
It’s no secret that teacher burnout is a problem. A commonly cited statistic is that as many as half of teachers leave the profession within their first five years. As retention of teachers gains attention in policy circles, teacher leadership has emerged as one possible solution. Generally teacher leadership means an opportunity to extend a […]