Newsela. If you have not heard of them, you have been missing out. Google Classroom, yet again, if you’ve missed out on the greatness that is Classroom, I feel for you. Now, the two have finally almost become one… or at least, they work very well together. Continue reading
Posters. Everyone has created these at some point during their time spent in school. Some of us recall these times fondly, (not me) and some think of the posters as a waste of time. If you stop and think about it, what academic purpose did these posters serve? Continue reading
Can I get your attention please. Please… everyone… attention please. If you find yourself repeating something along these lines often, then odds are, your audience isn’t all that into you, or more accurately, what you have to say.
Students, believe it or not, have the same issue. I truly believe that students want to write. The problem, they don’t always want to write about what you want them to write about. How can we really know what level our students are writing on if they don’t really care about what they are writing?
Growth. It’s what it’s all about. Our job, as educators, is to ensure that students grow. Let me rephrase that a bit. Our job, as educators, is to ensure that ALL students grow. See what I did there? Yes, there is a difference.
Coding. English teacher. You might be wondering how in the world these two things remotely go together. Well, in my case, they go together after school in the form of our newly formed Commodore Coding Club. Continue reading
So, I was sitting around pondering some literature to read with my kids after spring break. I was texting back and forth with one of my colleagues who teaches world history about where, or when they are going next when my attention wandered a bit to Twitter. I saw a reference to Sick Science, and of course, clicked it out of curiosity. Oh, what a treat we have been gifted with. Continue reading
Use the Force… that is exactly what I wanted to do when I got my hands on the Myo Gesture Control Armband by Thalmic Labs. Use the Force, I did. I admit, I was a bit skeptical of this when I saw the promo material, as most people would be. Continue reading
You have likely seen it all over social media. It seems that Twitter is exploding with tweets about the Openebooks initiative. Being an English teacher who believes reading holds the key to many of life’s treasures, I jumped right in and took a look.
The dreaded formal observation window has arrived for many of us. I say “dreaded” somewhat tongue in cheek. I have worked in a few different schools in my career, and have seen a variety in methods for administrators to evaluate teachers. This is a time where teachers will often get themselves all worked up, and prepare the proverbial dog and pony show. Continue reading
Call this a vent session. Call it a soapbox moment. Call it whatever you wish, but this needs saying, if for no other reason than to get it off my chest. Rigor, the buzzword being tossed around like cheap candy at a parade. Everyone claims they want to increase the rigor in their classrooms. Principals tell us to do it. Professors tell education students to increase it. Teachers claim they are doing it. But, are they? Continue reading