Teachers take note – Melissa Seideman is changing the way you think about our profession. This social studies instructor from upstate New York has iron in many fires – from being a co-director of #sschat to using technology in her classroom almost daily to hosting a Gilder Lehrman Reconstruction workshop this summer, she is as […]
student engagement
Posted inFeatured, Opinion
Why Teachers Should Attend Graduation
Firefighters regularly press their uniform and cap, polish their trucks, and look their best to march in Memorial Day parades. It’s a way for the entire firehouse to forge together, in a common bond, for the good of their department and to showcase their best for their community. They don’t get paid for it, and […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Current Events in Education, Featured, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, School Improvement
High School Recess: Should it be an Option?
Yesterday, our full faculty came together to discuss the pros and cons of our mandated advisory period held in the middle of the day. For 20 minutes, students check in with an advisor to discuss upcoming involvements in events, to conference about grade improvement plans, to engage in fun activities. I have a freshman advisory […]
Posted inFeatured, Middle School
EdCamp – The Unconference
[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”] It was an incredibly nerve-wracking half hour. The cafeteria was filling with educators. We would hit 130 in attendance before the day was done. However, at 8:45 in the morning, the […]
Posted inFeatured
How My Elementary School Community Saved My Life
I was born in 1951. A few months after my birth, it was discovered that I had a heart defect that would need surgery. Before I was old enough to have the surgery my father died. As there was no real safety net back then, my mother and I lived with three different families until […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Social Studies
Mathematics with a Social Justice Agenda?
I attended several sessions on Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice at this year’s NCTM Annual Conference. I noticed similar faces in all of the sessions I selected. This meant that hundreds of other faces had completely excluded this topic as one of value to their pedagogical growth. I started wondering how this important work would […]
Posted inEducational Apps, Featured, Technology
Disruptive Innovation: Gaming and Education [Part 2]
Like most boys his age, my 11 year-old son is a gamer. He plays a myriad of video games, and together, he and I are avid tabletop gamers. His gaming life is full of colorful characters, mysterious landscapes, adventure, challenge, triumphs, and, yes, lots of failure. But no matter how much failure he encounters, […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Languages, Middle School
Poesía en la clase de Español
“¡Otra vez!” My students were so used to hearing these two words (another time) in between choral recitations of our daily poem that it had unfortunately become a bit sing-song as they mimicked me. Pick your battles; I thought . . . here I stood, in front of 26 eighth graders as we recited a […]