Build strong relationships with your students. You’ve heard this before, I know. I really don’t think I need to harp on it. However, the reason we’ve heard it a million times, is the same reason we actually do need to continue to harp on it. Building relationships with your students is absolutely crucial if you want to truly reach them. Other … Read More
Still Not Sure How to Roll Out That New District Initiative?
Working on a new district initiative? One of the most common things we come across when talking with district administrators is the story of that last initiative that fell flat or blew up in their face. The truth is, rolling out a new district-wide initiative is not easy. It is complicated, stressful, and always presents the potential for push-back, frustration, … Read More
Create Your Own Breakout EDU or Escape Room Challenge
I love the concept of Escape Rooms and Breakout EDU challenges! I think escape rooms and breakout EDU challenges are great ways to encourage teamwork, build a strong and positive classroom culture, and engage students with challenging ideas in a low-stress (but high-fun!) way. Over the last year, I’ve created my own version of a hybrid-Escape/Breakout Challenge that is very … Read More
Let Spoken Word Transform Your Poetry Unit!
Don’t Fear the Poetry Unit. I don’t know about you, but the loudest collective groan to ricochet off the four walls of my classroom occurs the moment I announce the start of our poetry unit. Without fail, students go into panic mode. They offer to do double the homework for a month if we could just read another novel. I … Read More
Digital Citizenship: Is Your School R.E.A.D.Y. to be Good Digital Citizens?
Are your students ready to be good digital citizens? Todays’ students are using technology to collaborate, learn, research, and communicate while at school. Blended and personalized learning with digital tools has flooded classrooms, but most teacher-prep programs do not incorporate digital citizenship as requirements for teacher certification. This leads to a cross roads of districts pushing digital learning into schools … Read More