TL;DR: Interdisciplinary units deepen students’ learning experiences. Have teachers decide what they want to focus on for an interdisciplinary unit. Hold a planning meeting to talk about the unit and co-plan. Plan on meeting throughout the unit with other teachers to see how it’s going and tweak things. Allow teachers to teach what they’re excited about. Celebrate your successes! Interdisciplinary … Read More
Teaching Through the Circles: Previewing the Standards
TL;DR: A great idea can be transferred to many different applications. Don’t be afraid to put your spin on a great idea. Give credit where credit is due. Teach Better Team I am honored to be part of an incredible community of teachers through the Teach Better team, my own district, and several teaching groups via social media. A little … Read More
Why (and How) I Wrote Curriculum During Summer Break
TL;DR: Summer break can be a great time to create or update lessons. Spending time on curriculum while energized can benefit both you and the students in the new school year. I love the clearly defined break for summer vacation. At the end of each year, I was always ready for well-deserved time off. At the same time, I always … Read More
Edu Speak 101
TL;DR: Substitute teachers selected that job for all different reasons. Sometimes educational language is hard to understand when you first enter a classroom and read the sub plans. Try to complete sub plans that make sense even for those who aren’t familiar with educational jargon. If you are an administrator, please check in with subs at the start of each … Read More
35. How to Weave Social Justice Into Your Lesson Desson with Dr. Leena Bakshi
Hey Designers, Have you thought about how you can weave social justice into your instructional designs? On this episode we are talking to Dr. Leena Bakshi, the founder of STEM4Real. She gives us some concrete ways to integrate social justice into the fabric of our instructional design. After seeing the limited access that underrepresented students have to math and science … Read More