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Occasionally, I repost this article so that new readers can find it more easily.  Based on some very enthusiastic feedback, it has since morphed into a book proposal called The Top Secret New Teachers Handbook.  I'll share more as it ...

I recently heard Judy Willis (of "syn-naps" fame) speak at a conference.  In her pre-teaching life, she was a neurologist and she brings her knowledge to the classroom and to her lectures.  (See my recently published article in Teacher Magazine, "My ...

So I looked at my 8th grade students' scores after they took the MMA and sighed.  Their scores sucked.  

I've been working on metacognitive lessons with my middle schoolers in an attempt to teach reflection and the act of thinking about thinking.  Anyway, one of the most important elements in teaching about thinking is in your own remembering of ...

I recently watched John Merrow's interview with Michelle Rhee on the NewsHour.  Michelle seems like a real mixed blessing for education. On one hand, she's willing to clean house, and education does seriously need it.  On the other hand, however, ...

OK, so as I write this I'm watching Sesame Street with my 2 year old.  This big-feathered muppet just announced that the Word on the Street is, get this...Struggle.  I kid you not.  I guess times are tough even on ...

The Boston Globe is reporting that some students deliberately "shoot themselves in their own foot."  Some of the reason is that trying hard is frightening.  Now, don’t get all uppity.  Let’s face it; even the most mature of adults may ...

Where were you when?  It's a question I asked my readers and my classes the day after the election, and you know what answer I heard the most often?  Ironforge.

I'm referring, of course, to my new Interactive Whiteboard. I think I'm going to name my second child Promethean.

Every year, I do this activity when teaching Narrative Plot.  I've used it from 3rd grade to 12th grade.  I learned a version of it first in 1993 at a UCLA Extension class on "Teaching Reading to Secondary Students" and ...