Read Part 1 of this series about Reading Standards here. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Princess, my first grader, writes all of the time. One day in kindergarten, after getting into trouble at home, I […]
common core
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum
Eliminate Extra Credit!
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] “Mr. Miller, is there any extra credit I can do?” I hear this question at least once a week. At. Least. Once. A. Week. Despite the fact that I spend the […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Middle School
How to Write a Reader's Theater Play
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] The most valuable class I have ever attended was at first a mistake. My enrollment in “Reading 101: Strategies for Middle School Students,” offered at our local intermediate unit, was a […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Elementary School, From the Front Lines, Kindergarten, Uncategorized
Open House: OMG! (Tips for Parents)
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] September is Open House Month, and the welcoming speech from a teacher could sound like this: “Welcome, Parents! Let me show you how to access my website on the SMARTboard where you […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Common Core, From the Front Lines, Social Studies
What Does a Quality Social Studies Assessment Look Like?
Recently a reader emailed us this question: What Does a Quality Social Studies Assessment Look Like? Well, reader, I’ll be the first to admit – my instruction tactics have evolved much over the years, but nothing has changed more in the way in which I test students. What once began as fill-in questions with some true/false […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion, Principals' Corner, School Improvement
Educational Reform: It is Time for Real Change
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] As I get older, I see the value in the adage, “There is wisdom in numbers.” I catch myself more often than not running ideas and proposals by colleagues and friends […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, From the Front Lines, Literacy
Up, Up, My Friend…and Quit Your Close Reading!
The Common Core Literacy Standards encourage “close reading”, the careful inspection of a text for analysis, but I believe that the British poet William Wordsworth offers his sly opinion on that practice in one of his poems The Tables Turned. The poem is a plea to the reader to throw down the books with poems […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, The State of Education
The Current State of Education in New York: "The Hunger Games" (Part 3)
The Hunger Games series is powerful as an authentic text due to its messages of speaking out when something is wrong, and of fighting back against the bully. This is a tenet that many teachers not only preach, but practice in their classrooms. Choose to do the right thing. Choose to speak out. Choose to […]