Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Middle School

Say No to Boredom! Dynamic Incorporation of Nonfiction Into the Classroom

  You learn on your feet Not in your seat! ~Dr. Jean Feldman   Although Dr. Jean is a well-known preschool and kindergarten teacher, author, researcher, and presenter, most often her advice can be modified and applied to older students as well.  Whether you are teaching to the Common Core State Standards or not, there […]

Posted inFeatured, Opinion

Endings and Beginnings

By: Jane Rhodes As the school year ends for so many of us in the next few weeks, it is easy to be caught up in business of grading final assignments, attending end-of-year assemblies, finally cleaning out our classrooms (do we really need to keep all those paper towels tubes for projects next year?), and […]

Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Technology

Paper or Paperless Classrooms?

Ready or not, my rural high school is preparing to deliver 1:1 iPads to our entire middle and high school populations next fall. Furtive conversations abound in halls and at lunch gatherings as we debate the possibilities and traditional needs of classroom learning. There has always been a fine line between reliance on products that facilitate […]

Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Uncategorized

The Mathematical Workshop Model: How Data, Differentiation, and Classroom Management Combine in an Elementary Classroom

We have all heard of various writing workshop models. Students working diligently on various stages of the writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, proofreading and publishing. But how can we incorporate similar structures in the math classroom? To some, this may not be new. Various levels of the math workshop model do exist and so I am […]

Posted inGoing Paperless, Instructional Strategies, Social Studies, Technology, Uncategorized

Pioneering Nearpod

The 1:1 digital classroom is no different from any classroom in terms of management challenges. The excitement of technological change and student attention span tends to wane at the same speed and undivided attentions seek distractions if a system of motivation and inquiry is not put in place. This is true for all teaching because I remember […]