My Go-To Lesson If I were to ask you what is your “go-to” lesson, I bet a dozen donuts you could tell me all about it! Well, one of my favorite ones involves several different variations of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Small side story – while visiting my son and daughter-in-law in Dallas, we took […]
instructional strategies
Posted inClassroom Management
Three Changes to Make to Your Teacher Language This School Year
The way we speak to our students holds more power than we think. Our tone and word choice can either motivate our students or make them recoil in anger and frustration. The language we use can also be ineffective and won’t get us the desired results in our classroom. I realized I needed to work […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Reading and Writing Volume Counts
Volume is its own goal. The more we read and write, the better we read and write. That doesn’t mean volume alone leads to excellence. It doesn’t. But progress without volume is almost impossible. Last winter, I was privileged to attend the regional ELA teacher’s conference in Missouri called Write to Learn. Two of the […]
Posted inElectives & Special Areas
Using Popular Music in the Secondary Classroom
Teachers born between 1950 and 1980 makeup both the baby-boom generation and those known as “Generation X.” The music with which they grew up is a reflection of the historical periods that produced it – Vietnam, the Cold War, the Fall of Communism, September 11, 2001, and the events that followed. Teachers of social studies […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Why and How to Start an Interactive Notebook in Math
Last year, I began an interactive notebook in my math class after a lot of thought about the process. I had already begun the school year and didn’t want to change up how I did things but wound up deciding midway through the year to begin interactive notebooks. In the end, the decision to start the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Principals' Corner
Differentiation Isn't Dead
Differentiation is the one word in education that make the most subdued educators scream out in pain. Principals use it in evaluations like it’s going out of style, and content specialists talk about it like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Meanwhile, educators maintain intense fear when the word “differentiation” is uttered in conversation because […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Principals' Corner
Differentiation Isn’t Dead
Differentiation is the one word in education that make the most subdued educators scream out in pain. Principals use it in evaluations like it’s going out of style, and content specialists talk about it like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Meanwhile, educators maintain intense fear when the word “differentiation” is uttered in conversation because […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Languages, Literacy, Science, Social Studies
Do you Speed Date?
No, this is not an article on helping your dating life, though if you are a teacher and are dating, my heart goes out to you. Speed dating is a strategy to “spice” up your classroom. The concept is to have two rows of students each with a concept or person to teach. Put a […]