The Power of Reading Aloud in Middle School Classrooms

—Source: Image by Flickr user Peter Taylor, under Creative Commons

Interviewing Famous Leaders in History

Subjects

• Arts and Humanities
• Social Studies
• World History
• U.S. History

Grades

• 3-5
• 6-8
• 9-12

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Brief Description

Students research a famous leader and then assume the role of interviewer and…

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Find the Joy: Words of  Advice to a First Year Principal

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Recently a close friend of mine became a principal for the first time this year. Soon after celebrating this awesome career achievement, the reality set in about just how challenging and stress-inducing this job can be.  Usually when she shares the joys and pains of school leadership I try to approach the conversation as a friend, not as someone who coaches and supervises…

This is one of my favorite themes. I condemn Constructivism because it seems to be an all-purpose excuse for not teaching. Teachers are actually ordered not to teach! I think we should do the exact opposite, that is, teach more and teach better.

 This nonsense has now spread through the K-12 system, top to bottom, side to side, in every single course. The amount of facts presented to children in a given year has…

With diminishing resources, it is unlikely that an ongoing review of assessment development is in the budget.  However it is essential. As curriculum changes, as the way students learn evolves, as the demands on educators increase, so must the assessments we use advance. Little, if any, instruction in teacher and leader programs are devoted to assessment building. It is unlikely, after assuming teacher or leader positions that assessment building attracts our attention amidst the…

The delivery of hardware and access to the Internet and other sources of information alone, with hopes that all will be well is ill advised.  It won't happen.  We believe, as with all changes, unless this implementation is well planned for systemic implementation, including putting a learning and monitoring system in place, it will result either in another failed initiative, or one of those pendulum swings with which educators are far too familiar.…

In schools, observations and evaluations of teachers and principals can be a contentious event rather than a productive process. Watching someone teach or facilitate a meeting changes the event being observed. Observing something, for the most part, involves the conditions of the observed to change. For example, how a teacher interacts with students may be different if a supervisor is watching. This can be a good difference or a bad difference, but it is different. The same goes for…