tweenteacher.com

So I've been a little quiet as of late.  After all, it's been the last two weeks of school and I'm in crunch time on some writing deadlines.  In addition, I've got to learn some new-fangled strategies using the Interactive ...

Know a teacher who got a pink slip?  Maybe my newest post at Teacher Magazine can help.  Click here for the article. It's Step 1 of my Top Secret New Teacher Handbook.  Hope it creates some shortcuts, a machete even, through ...

I believe a classroom library is the heartbeat of a teacher's environment.  It is the window into their own personality, and it reflects the importance of literacy in the classroom.  I believe every teacher, no matter the subject taught, should ...

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 ...

This weekend I'm presenting at the CATE conference in Santa Clara, CA.  It's a session on developing high level, critical-thinking commentary in expository writing.  My feeling is that great commentary is the Voice in Expository, it is the Show, Not ...

OK, so we preach about differentiating our lessons.  We preach about differentiating our students.  We preach about differentiating our assessments.  But what about differentiating the requirements of our new teacher programs?

I'm not sure what one can say about this latest story.  AP reports that a number of students at a St Louis middle school are facing suspension for a spirit day gone awry.  But how "Hug a Friend Day" de-evolved ...

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 ...

Just a brief post of victory to share: At the beginning of Sept 2007, I gave a pre-assessment to my class in order to learn their levels and begin the process of differentiation.  I looked through the results and my gaze ...