Middle school can be the most confusing time for students and parents in their educational career. Everything ‘known’ about school is shifting, and hormones are often kicking into gear at the same time. Students want more independence, and parents want to do the right thing. Instead of letting teens ‘sink or swim’, try a more […]
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Posted inFeatured
4 Rules For Back to School Night Success
By TER author Jennifer Wolfe Even after 25 years of teaching middle school, I still get Back To School Night jitters. There’s something about standing in front of a group of adults who are trusting you to educate their child, help them become more literate, and prepare them for their first year of high school […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, High School, Middle School, Opinion
What I Wish My Students Knew…
Last year, a teacher asked her students what they wished their teacher knew and it opened the eyes of teachers are around the United States. We all keep things inside and the only way for people to understand us is to let them out and share because only then can we begin to see each […]
Posted inChild Development, Common Core, Current Events in Education, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Kindergarten, Literacy, Mathematics, New Teacher Bootcamp, Opinion, Parents, Science, Social Studies
Engaging Parents From School To Home
The school to home link is very important to me. Many people view today’s education as starting and stopping in the classroom. Learning is an ongoing process and needs to continue from the classroom to home and back again. But parents tell me all the time that they don’t know how to ‘teach’ their children, […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher, Middle School, Special Education
9 Ways to Keep Calm and Soothe the Angry Parent
When you decided to become a teacher, you did it to change the lives of children. You never imagined that attached to those children, you might find parents with endless questions, some of which go well beyond the scope of your classroom, or that some parents might get more difficult than planning lessons. Unfortunately, we […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Encouraging Parental Involvement In Reading
We have a seven hour day at my school. All in all I’d say my second/third grade students spend about four of those hours in some type of reading, whether it be science, geography, social studies, math or directed reading groups. We all know that outside reading is a significant part of growth for the […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Elementary School, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Parents
Tips for Parents: Change Your Math
I love math! In high school, however, I remember we were asked to show ALL work. There were things I was just doing in my mind that I had never been asked to break down or explain. This was a difficult task, but it made me push myself to understand the process. No longer was […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, Mathematics, Special Education
Tips for Parents: Conquering Common Core Math: 8 Tips to Use at Home
I teach students who fall far below grade level in math and parents tell me all the time how impossible Common Core Math concepts are. They don’t even get it, so how can they help their children? But math itself doesn’t change–the way we look at it does. If you want to help your children […]