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Authentic Audience
When we sat down to revise our sophomore speech unit, my grade-level partner Jordan and I were unsure where to start. We knew the unit would continue to encompass the...
Picture It: When Material-Use Goes Awry
I was leading a demonstration lesson for 40 middle school teachers when I looked across the classroom and saw that one of the students had lined his hands with stickers....
Play to Your Strengths
When I taught freshman English, we had a brand-new freshman social studies teacher next door. Right away, it felt like we were total opposites. I was an introvert, and he...
Three Ways Student Writers Taught Me How to Use Writing Partnerships
See with the eyes of your heart. Look for the good in people. Look for the good in the mirror. Look for something that's working and you will find it....
Teaching Students to Be Teachers
When it unexpectedly flurries at school, rather than pushing against the excitement and desire to watch the snow for the sake of plowing along with the lesson at hand, we...
Redesigning Experiences for Parent/Guardian Conferences
October and February are usually the months for parent-teacher conferences in most schools. I admit that at the beginning of my teaching career, I never questioned any aspects of these...
Teaching Writers to Hear Feedback
Recently I did one of the things I love to do most: talk with someone about their writing. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 7 or 77, I enjoy talking about...
It’s the Final Countdown: Using Chunking and Timers to Scaffold Reluctant Writers
When it comes to writing, are you a procrastinator? As much as I hate to admit it, I’m one. I cringe to think of how many papers I wrote in...
Choral Counting Routine
“One, two, dee, door, dive, dix, de-veeen, eight, nine, ten,” my son Brooks says, counting his grapes. I never realized seven was the only two-syllable number in one to 10...
Level Two Unlocked: Using the Language of Video Games to Engage Students in the Assessment Experience
In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. —Mary Poppins Ching, ching…one point. Brush up and down. Ching, ching…two points. I watched as my son...
Helping Writers Self-Correct
Let’s face it: We’ve all been there. Finally, we find a quiet evening to sit down with a stack of writing from our students. We make a nice cup of...
Do the Hard Thing
As I prepared to give my graduate students the closing remarks for our first semester together, I found myself in a moment of reflection. When I was sitting in their...
35 Ways Leaders Can Improve School Culture
When the principal sneezes, the school catches a cold. —Todd Whitaker The school culture is defined as the school’s unwritten rules and traditions, customs, and expectations (Deal & Peterson, 2016). ...
Moving Beyond Asking Questions
If you have ever spent more than 1½ minutes in a kindergarten classroom or been on a car ride with a toddler, you know we don’t have to teach kids...
Literacy Tool Kits
Literacy Tool Kits For many years my students have had math tool kits—a plastic box full of manipulatives to use when completing math activities. These manipulatives have provided a way...
A 30-Day Coaching Challenge
Instructional coaching can feel a bit like a roller coaster. Some days feel like we’re sailing through the day with the wind in our face and our arms outstretched with...
Building Independence in Problem Solving
It is the third day of school, and Mrs. Gonzalez is introducing a task called Sealed Solution to her students. There are 10 cards, each with a number 0–9. The...
Rural Communities
After three years teaching in a private school in Louisville, I moved back to the small county in rural Kentucky where I grew up, and accepted a job teaching freshman...
Exploring Rural Literature—A Middle-Grade Booklist
As the Indiana Rural Teacher of the Year, I attended the annual National Forum to Advance Rural Education last October. I looked through the conference program to plan my day...
Classrooms as Spaces of Identity Development
“The classroom environment serves as a space for identity development where children learn about their humanity, strengths, and justice,” Erica Buchanan-Rivera writes in her book Identity Affirming Classrooms: Spaces that...
Rural Matters: Revealing Perceptions and Celebrating Roots
If you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance that you either teach rural students or were a rural student yourself. According to a research study conducted in 2019, “Nearly...
