Student learning is no accident!
Are you hoping for your students to read and enjoy each other’s writing? I was too! And I found it so challenging for so long. This strategy, I call the Writing Shuffle, has made all the difference. Not only do students get excited to read each other’s work- but they are thoughtful about feedback, and can engage in the entire… Read More
I’m always on the lookout for a handy student group work strategy. This one, Clock Partners, is one of my favorites! Sometimes when you prepare for group work, you stay up too late the night before making sure everyone has just the right partner. Have you been there? I have! And, honestly, even if it goes well- it leaves me… Read More
You finally have your own classroom!!! No more shuffling around on a cart, lugging your whole life with you every period of the day… no more “borrowing” other teachers’ classrooms and hoping you left them as neat as you found them. Make it the classroom of your dreams!!! Now What Now, you’re ready to make this new space work for… Read More
The view from down here. “It all falls on the classroom teacher, it always does” she reminded me. This was my mother. A retired elementary school teacher, who had made it the long haul. In the classroom for her entire career, advocating for kids, mentoring new teachers- reminding me when I express frustration in the system that, I shouldn’t be… Read More
I frequent a Sunday night Twitter chat, #edchatri, where amazing educators from all over the US help me approach the coming school week with the right attitude. During these chats, I discover amazing resources shared by fellow educators, who I now consider to be my colleagues, despite the geography that separates us. There are some Sunday nights that the quantity… Read More
For the last two years I have been welcomed into many classrooms as a coach, or as my favorite mentor Jan so accurately describes: a thought partner. When she used that language two years ago during our first New Teacher Center Mentor Academy, I had no idea just how connected I would feel to that phrase today. I have partnered… Read More
Block Play Builds Math Skills, Boosts Complex Thinking In Preschoolers, Study Finds
www.studyfinds.org
Preparing preschoolers for kindergarten can be a source of fear and excitement among young parents. Many find themselves wondering: "Is my child ready?" New research shows that one brain-boosting building block to school readiness is semi-structured block play.