In This Post: Ways to improve your professional development days by including personalized teacher learning! The importance of useful, relevant professional development. Specific suggestions on how to include teacher voice and choice in professional learning. Professional development often becomes the running joke when teachers get together. They comment on how the speakers had great ideas, and then the speakers were … Read More
Teaching Writing for Student Voice
In this post: The importance of providing freedom for students in your writing instruction. Strategies to use when teaching writing to shift the focus to student voice. My experience and background in empowering student writers. When we think about teaching writing, we often associate it with the traditional 5 paragraph essay, a regimented guide, or a ready-made curriculum. There’s a … Read More
Strategies to Increase Critical Thinking Skills in students
In This Post: The importance of helping students increase critical thinking skills. Ways to promote the essential skills needed to analyze and evaluate. Strategies to incorporate critical thinking into your instruction. We ask our teachers to be “future-ready” or say that we are teaching “for jobs that don’t exist yet.” These are powerful statements. At the same time, they give … Read More
Cue the Encore: When Things Don’t Go the Way You Planned
In This Post: Bouncing back from an unsuccessful lesson, in real time! Tips and strategies to turn a lesson around due to broken items and student pacing. An idea to head off misconceptions before they occur. If you’ve been in the classroom 1 year or 30 years, I’m sure you’ve had a lesson plan completely flop. Or you’ve had a … Read More
Swimming Lessons: Diving Into Blended Learning
In this post: Learn what blended learning actually is and why it is so powerful Strategies for blended learning that you can do in 5 minutes, 15 minutes, and half a class Strategies for blended learning that transform your practices as a teacher I teach high school English, and when I heard the words “Blended Learning” for the first time … Read More
