Viewing: k-12
The Equation of Student Success Webquest: Top 10 Responsibilities of Teachers to Avoid Student Failure
I have written before in the past on various blog sites and networks about the vital equation that must exist in order for a student not to fail in our schools: Family + Student + School + Policymakers/Voters = Student
“Internet Literacy: The Genre” : CUE 2010
Thank you as well to those of you (wow! there were a lot of you!) who attended my “Internet Literacy: The Genre” session at CUE. As promised, here is the keynote itself to peruse at your leisure. As with everything
“Podcasting with 70 Middle Schoolers”: CUE 2010
Thank you to everyone who attended my session today at CUE on “Podcasting with 70 Middle Schoolers.” As promised, here is the keynote itself to peruse at your leisure. As with everything on my site, this work is licensed under
Fictional Crushes
OK, don’t tell my husband, but I have a fictional crush. That is, I have a crush based on a fictitious character. I think I’ve always had one, but the object of my literary love has always changed with my
Where the Wild Things Are: Part II
So I recited the book and showed the movie trailer to the students on my Interactive Whiteboard, just as I mused about in my last post. From there, I read an old version of the “Three Little Pigs” and asked
Teaching Secrets: Finding a Job That You Love
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,
Finding Your Own Theme in Life
I have an article in the new March/April issue of Imagine Magazine, put out by Johns Hopkins. It’s a beautiful magazine, whose audience is gifted middle schoolers. It’s always a pleasure to write for a middle school audience. I can
Extreme Makeover: Classroom Edition
There’s been so much talk lately of deep-needed reforms for education, but we neglect just how powerful a simple makeover can be. I’m lucky to currently work at a school that has a patch of green, which fixes the broken
How to be an Ed Tech Advocate
OK, guys. So I got it from the horse’s mouth at CUE. According to the ISTE Director of Governmental Affairs, No Child Left Behind is not going away. In the weeks leading up to the election, the Obama administration
The Importance of The Classroom Library
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
Top 10: How to Take Control of Your Teaching
How can you take control of your teaching, both literally and internally? Read my Top 10 list that advises a teacher on how to get what you need in this demanding job of ours, how to survive it, and how to love it.
“I Statements” in Expository Writing
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
Test Prep-Bubbling Power
So I looked at my 8th grade students’ scores after they took the MMA and sighed. Their scores sucked.
Is EdTech changing how students think or is it addressing the changes in student thinking?
Science Daily is reporting that there has been a shift in how students are thinking as a result of their use of technology. They believe it possibly lowers critical thinking skills and analysis. Additionally, they wonder just how much schools
My New Interactive Whiteboard…an update
OK, you know when you get a new puppy and you love it and you couldn’t live without it and then you find out it has hip dysplasia? That’s a little of what my relationship is like with my
Marketing Metacognition
So I just got the January MindWare catalogue and I realize that here we have a toy catalogue that is solely for metacognitive purchases. So this got me thinking: how can schools market metacognition? I realized, of course, that until
Asking for Student Opinions Isn’t Risky, It’s Rewarding
I was reading this great article from Slate Magazine about the cheese that is Billy Joel. And I thought back to many a car trip singing his “Themes from an Italian Restaurant.” I also remembered just how many times I’d
Recalling your own Metacognition
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
NewsHour with Jim Leher: Michelle Rhee
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,
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Here’s why test scores shouldn’t be the only criteria…
By heather on February 18, 2009
OK, so my first period’s “Advanced” group went up 40% between their 1st district assessment and their 2nd. Another period went up 37%. Even my Honors class went from 81% Advanced to 97% Advanced, with only 1 student found in