Sneak Peek: Finding Superman Excerpt

Waiting for Superman shined a national spotlight on the major problems facing education while painting a bleak picture of public education and glorified charter schools.

The upcoming book Finding Superman reveals the reality behind the claims in Waiting for Superman and explores the untold stories missed by the film with the help of today's leading minds in education. Dr. Watson Scott Swail and company also recognize the flourishing public schools, the failing charter schools, and the unlauded success stories of educators.

This chapter of Finding Superman's shares ways to stop waiting for Superman and find him in our schools.

Sneak Peek: Finding Superman Excerpt

The Bad Teacher Debate: Losing Labels in Education

A recent quote posted on TeachHUB sparked a thoughtful commentary on how labeling teachers as “good” or “bad” doesn’t solves anything or bring us closer to resolutions that help our teachers, our students, or our schools.

Education blogger Steve Moore shares his response to this quote:

“Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more.” Bob Talbert

After reading this quote, I felt a jab not because I see myself as a defender

of “bad” teachers, but of language and rhetoric. I think the way we frame our discussions about teaching, education, and success in those areas is directly related to what we will see come to pass.

Any time I hear a person debase or celebrate teachers, I try to find a way to understand what exactly they are speaking to. The “good” as well as “bad” is deceiving.

Read The Bad Teacher Debate: Losing Labels in Education

5 Awesome iPad Apps for Students with Special Needs

As we teach and prepare students for 21st century careers and college, the effective integration of technology is an effective pedagogical tool for meeting the needs of diverse learners.

Technology tools, like iPads are particularly useful in meeting the diverse needs of our students with special needs. Technology makes what was once inaccessible for many of the students accessible. Since iPads are relatively easy to use and don't have a significant demand on fine motor schools, they are becoming increasing popular for instruction of our students with special needs.

There are thousands of apps that can be used to develop students’ skills. I am always collecting apps that can be effectively integrated into instruction.

Here are some of my current favorite apps that benefit all children but are particularly useful for reaching and teaching students with special needs.

Read 5 Awesome iPad Apps for Students with Special Needs

Spring Cleaning for Teacher File Cabinets

With Spring upon us, and the warmer temperatures on their way, it is a great time to think about spring cleaning those filing cabinets!

Follow my simple filing method to ensure that you never lose, forget or misplace your teaching resources.

Read Spring Cleaning for Teacher File Cabinets

Top 12 Student-Centered Lessons for All Grades

Kids are fascinated by themselves – it’s a natural part of their development. So why not take that fascination and use it to stir up a little enthusiasm about your subject matter?

Here are 12 ideas for student-centered lessons across the curriculum.

Read Top 12 Student-Centered Lessons for All Grades

Best Student Books for The Hunger Games Fans

I just finished teaching a unit on literary elements that used Suzanne Collins’ smash-hit novel, The Hunger Games. It was a huge success. Finding novels that my students (9th-12th graders with Learning and Emotional Support needs) will respond to can be a real challenge – but this novel more than delivered. I can honestly say I’ve never found a novel that students responded to so positively. With the movie coming out, English teachers who are starting to plan for next year would be well-served to consider how they might include this novel in their lesson plans.

My situation is a bit unique in that I will have the same students for multiple years – so I won’t be able to teach using The Hunger Games for another 4 years or so. Because of this, I find myself wondering: What about this novel drew my students in so completely? Was it the theme? The characters? The plot?

With that in mind, I’ve started searching for novels that seems to tap into the same types of feelings and issues, novels that have interesting plots and well-developed characters, that I might be able to introduce my students to next year.

Here are some of the most promising book recommendations for The Hunger Games fans in your classroom... and may the odds be ever in your favor (that they like them).

Read Best Student Books for The Hunger Games Fans

YouTube Rolls Out School-friendly Video Site

YouTube has been an educational resource with tremendous potential that teachers have been wanting to tap into for years. School bans and content concerns have gotten in the way… until now.

With YouTube for Schools, school can block the main YouTube while giving teachers and students access to educational videos for free.

The video site has created a new education section called YouTube EDU that allows schools to use educational videos from the world’s largest video sharing platform without opening the door to inappropriate or time-wasting content.

Schools can also add their own videos to their channel, customize their video playlists and keep their student video uploads private. YouTube Teachers lets you search by grade level and subject matter.

Even if your school didn’t block YouTube before, this seems to make using the site to teach easier and less stressful for teachers (at least in theory).

Read YouTube Rolls Out School-friendly Video Site

Tips for Happier, More Productive IEP Meetings

As a teacher, having to discuss a child’s deficits with his or her parents can be a very uncomfortable experience. Every parent wants their child to have a successful, happy life and that certainly is possible for students who are challenged with a disability.

Sometimes we are tasked with helping their parents see what wonderful strengths their child possesses. We bring in samples of work that show how much their son or daughter has learned, provide examples of the progress they are making, and speak with pride about their child’s educational victories. Other times, however, we have to discuss what challenges or needs the student is going to require help overcoming in order to achieve that success and happiness.

Often, parents are well aware of these strengths and weaknesses and are happy to work with their child’s teaching team to create a plan to support them, but sometimes things don’t go as smoothly.

An IEP meeting (or any parent-teacher meeting) may turn tense in a hurry if a parent:

* is confused or unaware (either accidentally or deliberately) of what difficulties their child has,
* wants a level of academic success or a career path for their child that might not be possible,
* feels that their child’s teaching team hasn’t done their job to the utmost of their ability,

In these instances, it is our responsibility not only to continue to be honest with parents, but also to find a way to get back to a place where the parent feels like a partner in their child’s teaching team – rather than an unhappy or confused outsider. I have found that this can often be achieved with some very simple communication tips:

Read Tips for Happier, More Productive IEP Meetings

How to Teach Math to English Language Learners

Teachers across the country have increasing numbers of English language learners (ELLs) in their classrooms. As a result, teachers need strategies that will help them reach all of their students and ensure that students learn what they need to know.

Many lessons in existing curricula are designed for native speakers of English and do not support second language acquisition. This is particularly true for math instruction. Students need specific vocabulary to talk about and do math.

ELLs are still learning the language in which the problems and directions are written; they are learning new math skills and a new language at the same time.

Read How to Teach Math to English Language Learners

Top 12 Free Ways Teachers Can Rock Spring Break

Let’s admit it, we’d all like to spend our spring breaks relaxing on a beach or on some once-in-a-lifetime trip, but that’s not always in the budget. That doesn’t mean you can’t avoid the everyday routines of home and truly enjoy your vacation!

Here are 12 ways to make the most of your spring break without spending any cash.

Read Top 12 Free Ways Teachers Can Rock Spring Break

Quiz: Identify Your Ed Tech Intelligence

How does your ed tech prowess stack up with your fellow teachers? Take the Ed Tech Intelligence quiz to find out!

Read Quiz: Identify Your Ed Tech Intelligence

Cashing In: Selling Public Schooling to International Students

How much do you think a spot in a small town public school classroom costs? Try around $15,000 a year.

Many rural schools are struggling to stay afloat due to tax cuts and a drop in enrollment. With fewer students enrolled in the school, less money is being provided by the government. To drive more money to these small-scale public schools, administrators are putting classroom seats up for sale.

According to a Yahoo News article, rural schools from states like New York, Arkansas, Maine, and Pennsylvania are recruiting international students in hopes of providing financial security to the schools.

Read Cashing In: Selling Public Schooling to International Students

5 Strategies to Teach Social Responsibility

What does it mean to teach for social responsibility? At Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, it means intentionally teaching young people to understand themselves, each other, and the world.

We help teachers create classrooms where students can air and solve conflicts, discuss controversial topics, have a say in what and how they learn, ask questions and engage in dialogue, and are sometimes moved to action as a result of their study.

Here are five essential ingredients to teaching for social responsibility:

Read 5 Strategies to Teach Social Responsibility

How to Apply Ed Tech Teaching for Common Core Standards

When I was a student, I pounded out papers on an electric typewriter. When I started teaching, the web wasn’t an instant resource. I taught students about note cards and bibliography cards when they researched topics. Those days are long gone (and I am thrilled).

Today, our students gather and digest information via the Internet at amazing speed. I often say that the ways in which we read text, write text, use text and how text affects us has completely changed because we are in the Technology/Information Age.

Common Core State Standards recognize this change and require teachers to adapt. Here is an overview of the CCSS technology expectations and how teachers can begin integrate more technology into engaging teaching and learning activities.

Read How to Apply Ed Tech Teaching for Common Core Standards

Top 12 St. Patrick's Day Lessons

Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, right? Well, in the spirit of shamrocks and leprechauns, here are ideas to celebrate the wearin’ of the green in an educational way.

Read Top 12 St. Patrick's Day Lessons

Overcoming the Odds: American Indian Education Foundation Interview

Among Native American students, only 46% graduate high school and a mere 17% go on to attend college.

The American Indian Education Foundation has made it their mission to help Native American students realize that they can overcome these daunting statistics and the many academic challenges they face.

AIEF spokesperson Helen Oliff shares the inside info about how the organization inspires hope in Native American students and facilitates success in this exclusive TeachHUB interview.

Read Overcoming the Odds: American Indian Education Foundation Interview

Ed Tech: Closing the Digital Divide

For all students, becoming fluent with the use of technology is critical to ensuring their future job opportunities. Yet there exists a troubling technology disparity: a significant number of U.S. students, especially those in low-income households, do not have access to a computer or an Internet connection in their home. This “digital divide” makes 1:1 programs even more essential.

School districts with 1:1 technology programs, which offer each student access to a computer throughout the school day, are best positioned to close the technology gap and to allow all learners to become fluent with technology. This article will take a brief look at the statistics behind the technology gap and provide a possible answer to this problem.

Read Ed Tech: Closing the Digital Divide

Women's History Month Lesson: Your Place in the Race

A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways as they're capable of understanding ~ Steve Prefontaine

As educators, we often try to teach our students more than just facts and formulas. Being an avid female runner, there is a certain historical story which holds great meaning to me and teaches a lesson that cannot be graded through any test or quiz. Not only have I found personal inspiration from it, but I also found it has great ties to the classroom.

It wasn't that long ago that women were denied entry into distance running races. Despite records of women having completed marathons in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, prior to 1968 women were not allowed to compete. Many believed that females simply weren't fit for such athletic feats. And so, decade after decade, officials declared that women had no place in the race.

This didn't stop women from running, of course. There's an almost primal drive that compels some humans to move, to push, and to explore. Despite my love for my comfy chair, blankets, and lap dog, I feel that drive. I run to think, to quiet my thinking, to let out stress, to see the world, to appreciate nature, to feel alive. I race myself, I cheer on others, and I love going further than I've ever gone before. I simply can't fathom being told I'm not cut out for the challenge.

Read Women's History Month Lesson: Your Place in the Race

How to Engage ALL Kids in Reading

One of the greatest challenges facing educators is getting students to be proficient, passionate readers. Surprisingly, the solution to conquering the reading challenge is surprisingly simple...

About two years ago, I was working with a school district with a poverty rate of over 70% in a semi-rural area. The teachers and I were transitioning the middle school literacy curriculum from a more teacher-directed, traditional paradigm to a student-directed, literature circle, and writing workshop paradigm.

As I worked with my teacher colleagues, I was fortunate enough to get to know them and their students. One teacher (I’ll call her Ms. Smith) taught the lowest level readers in the 6th grade. As she and I prepared some team lessons, I was eager to meet her kids and I was immediately struck by the differences I witnessed in her class and their attitudes toward reading.

More than 20 years of literacy teaching experience has taught me was to be ready to deal with reluctant and disinterested readers, as this is usually the case with the lowest level readers. Yet this was not the case on the first day and every day that I co-taught with Ms. Smith.

Read How to Engage ALL Kids in Reading

Top 10 Teacher Super Powers

TeacherAs a pick-me-up for the pre-Spring Break stretch, we want to recognize the superhuman feats teachers perform every day.

Here is the top 10 list of Teacher Super Powers:

Read Top 10 Teacher Super Powers

The Teacher Who Couldn't Read: John Corcoran's Story

John Corcoran was a teacher with a bachelor's degree in education and business administration. He attended school for 35 years of his life, half of them as a professional educator. He accomplished all this while hiding the fact that he was illiterate.

Learn about John's incredible struggle to read and his dedication to promote literacy in this exclusive TeachHUB interview.

Read The Teacher Who Couldn't Read: John Corcoran's Story

Helping Students Deal with Loss

Recently, one of my students lost her brother to cancer. He had been fighting the disease for quite a while and though his death was not unexpected and though I did not know her brother, it was impossible not to be deeply moved and saddened as I watched this young woman and her close friends deal with such a profound loss.

As teachers, most of us will be faced with helping our students work through the grieving process at some point in our careers. With that in mind, I wanted to discuss some important points that might help you and your students during these difficult and challenging times.

Read Helping Students Deal with Loss