Including people and experiences outside the classroom has become ever more difficult with budget cuts. But with the cyber world and the U.S. mail at your disposal, you can connect your kids in lots of ways that are inexpensive or free.
The alleged child abuse scandal that rocked Penn State has put a spotlight on the legal issues and consequences surrounding the mandated reporting of child abuse. School officials there are now in a position of defending themselves against alleged “inaction” and minimizing sexual abuse behavior as “horsing around.”
Want to know what your students are thinking during class? Now, there's an app for that!
Chicago Public Schools has set the scene for our local debate on longer school days. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been pushing his agenda to add 90 minutes to the school day across individual CPS schools, sparking passionate responses from teachers, union leaders, and community members.
Every classroom has a wide range of student abilities – even if your class is already ability grouped. You will likely have those that finish far before the rest, and those that finish last every time. How do you combat behavior issues that may occur with this “downtime”?
As an educator for over twenty years, I’ve witnessed numerous initiatives to improve the quality of education. With the introduction of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), I think we are finally emerging from a more “Standards Abused” era in education.
Keep kids focused on the classroom – not the long weekend – with one of these fun lesson ideas and learning activities to celebrate President’s Day!
Taylor Mali is a poet and former teacher that went viral when his poem defending teachers went viral on YouTube, getting millions of hits worldwide. In March 2012, Mali will release a book entitled What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World will add depth and breadth to his argument in support of teachers.
Last summer, California’s State Board of Education passed new regulations to the Parent Empowerment Act, or “parent trigger” law, which has sparked contentious debates among education stakeholders.
Wordless picture books have been around for well over 60 years. Almost every learning objective in the language arts curriculum of every grade level can be taught or enhanced using them. However, wordless books are most often associated with emergent readers, typically preschool and kindergarten aged students.
Interactive whiteboards are a great way for teachers to engage classrooms in learning. While many teachers are spending hours a day creating their own activities for their interactive whiteboards, there are tons of free sources to help teachers learn about and use IWBs with students.
Seasonal activities are a great way to actively engage kids in learning, and it’s easier than you might think to create holiday-themed lessons. In this article I’ll share where to find free and inexpensive seasonal activities and how to create your own holiday activities aligned with your curriculum.
Mrs. Mimi has been sharing her second grade adventures with undeniable wit and endearing honesty on her blog It’s Not All Flowers and Sausages for the last few years, but now she's gone big time with her very own book by the same name.
Teaching current events has always been one of my favorite topics to address in the classroom. In a recent twitter chat, my fellow social studies teachers were discussing how to teach real-time historical events in your classroom.
Giving power to my students? Won't that mean school days full of texting, non-educational movies and zero learning? Maybe not...
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." ~ Nelson Mandela
Looking for a way to celebrate Valentine's Day in your classroom without giving up valuable learning time?
In celebration of Black History Month, we would like to share some strong voices and quotes on education from the African American community.
Teacher-bashers who doubts the dedication and selflessness of teachers will have a hard time spinning this story
The science of attention teaches us that we tend to pay attention to what we have been taught to value and that we tend to be astonishingly blind to change until something disrupts our pattern and makes us see what has been invisible before (Davidson, 2011).