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Teach assignment writing: Tools and resources to share with your students
Mary Walton EducationAs a teacher, you've probably seen your students panic as soon as they're asked to write an essay. They may know the subject material inside and out, but as soon as they're asked to arrange it in an essay format, they struggle to describe it correctly.
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Assigning homework to English learners
Erick Herrmann EducationHomework can be a controversial topic in education circles. Some — including parents and educators — strongly believe homework is an important part of a student's education, and should be assigned to students on a nightly basis.
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The coding advantage: Why kids should learn to program
Brian Stack EducationRecently, I had the opportunity to listen to Justin Reich, executive director of the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Systems Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He spoke to a group of teachers about the changing landscape of the workplace and the need for more technology education. Reich made an observation that has stuck with me to today regarding the overwhelming role technology plays in our world. He showed teachers a picture of an airline ticket counter from the 1970s, with 20 ticket agents working behind a counter assisting travelers.
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Report: Many states still lagging behind in education
Bambi Majumdar EducationThe 2017 edition of Education Week's Quality Counts report shows that American schools are still lagging behind and that there is considerable room for improvement. Individual states were graded on metrics like school finances and student achievement, along with environmental factors. The report revealed how each state is faring in the education meter and that even the top-ranking state, Massachusetts, got only a B rating.
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The theory of language for ESL teachers
Douglas Magrath EducationESL instructors need to understand how languages work to be better able to serve the student population. Language is what makes us human, and it's something no other creature has. Note the following: "Language is a mirror of mind in a deep and significant sense. It is a product of human intelligence, created anew in each individual by operations that lie far beyond the reach of will or consciousness."
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How do infant brains compare to adult brains?
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareThe brain is a remarkable organ, always undergoing changes. For example, studies show the brain shrinks as we age, particularly in the frontal cortex. In fact, our brains are changing every minute of the day, from our time in the womb until the moment we die. We also know there are certain times in our lives during which the brain is most malleable.
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Tapping the potential of students with learning disabilities
Mary Jo Puglisi EducationStudent underperformance frequently causes stress for classroom teachers, and one of the most underperforming populations is students with learning disabilities. Often, these students spend years observing that their best effort falls short of mediocre efforts on the part of their peers. At some point, they stop giving their best effort in an attempt to preserve their fragile egos. "I only studied for a minute, so of course I got a D" is much easier than "I studied for hours over the course of the past week and only got a C, when my best buddy studied in the locker room for 15 minutes and got an A."
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It won’t happen forever: A family history project
Debra Josephson Abrams EducationI don't remember a time when I didn’t know my family originated in Russia. I grew up eating kasha and beet borsch and creamed and pickled herring and honey cake and halvah. My grandfathers were born in Russia. Although I never knew my grandfathers — they died before I was born — I knew my grandmothers. My maternal grandmother, Rose, lived with us. At times, she spoke Yiddish to my mom and dad and Aunt Pearl, and I learned a few words.
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Got a few student behavior challenges? Not anymore
Savanna Flakes EducationIn a supportive, inclusive learning environment, all students are valued members of a welcoming and responsive learning community that the teacher proactively cultivates. The foundations of creating a classroom climate conducive to inclusive practices are building a collaborative classroom community, establishing consistent routines and praise, and teaching students to cultivate a growth mindset.
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Successful communication between home and school
Brian Stack EducationAs a high school principal, one of the things I dislike to hear from parents is when they tell me they don't know what their child is doing in the classroom. While we have a sophisticated communication plan for schoolwide news and announcements, we fall short as a school in a systematic common approach to how we handle classroom-level communication between teachers and parents. In the new year, it is a personal goal of mine to work with my staff to improve in this area.
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