By Mike Gershon, Author of the Great Teaching Made Easy Series I spent a bit of time teaching A Level (or Advanced Placement) History. One class I taught were in Year 13, where the students are seventeen and eighteen years old. That’s the last year of secondary school in the
I remember teaching a group of Year 9 learners (13-14 year-olds). I’m sure there are many similarities between adolescents in North America and adolescents in the United Kingdom! Needless to say, it can throw up some tricky issues when it comes to behavior. This Year 9 class I was teaching
By Kristin DeJong, originally published in Education Week. Ask any dedicated teacher how the plethora of current standardized tests are working and the answer you’ll most often hear is simple: “They’re not.” The joy of teaching and the fun of learning are disappearing because the world of education has turned
Bear Creek Elementary School in Pinellas County, Florida has shattered expectations over the past few years, having quickly moved from a “D” to an “A” in the state accountability system. Principal Willette Houston’s leadership is at the forefront of the progress. On December 12, we had the pleasure of hosting
By Kristin DeJong Last time around, we introduced you to the idea of implementing a few new strategies to lighten your teaching load and promote more student-centered learning in the process. Today, we round out that list with a few more ideas you’ll be doing in no time. Establish Team Roles
By Kristin DeJong The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, “The children are now working as if I did not exist.” As a new school year begins, I’m reminded of this quotation from the famed physician and educator, Maria Montessori, and I often
By Theresa Staley Of all the things you do in this life, make it your mission to leave a lasting imprint on your students that’s so bold, it defines your legacy and resonates well into the future. But what exactly is a legacy and what does it have to do with
By Theresa Staley Of all the “wow!” moments in my educational career, I believe observing my students as they mastered their learning targets has been the most profound. This mastery involved a demonstration of student evidence to show they “got it” and could attach it to larger ideas and concepts. Through
By Dr. Beverly Carbaugh In education, data has gotten a bad rap. But it doesn’t have to be this way if we understand that good data actually improves learning. It’s time to shift the conversation, and we can do that by understanding the underlying concerns, disseminating comprehensible school data to communities,
By Mary Shea Although English is phonetically inconsistent, there is more sense than randomness in its spelling when particular factors are taken into consideration. Correct spelling in English—a social expectation for writing that goes public—requires the logical, thoughtful integration of knowledge and aptitude across multiple areas. Curiosity about unusual words—about
