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When we think of centers, we think of elementary. But what if there was a way to adapt centers to middle school and high school? What would it look like? How would it be organized? Those are questions I was asking myself last year when I taught ELA. I was thinking about how I could …
When you think about your favourite teachers you had growing up, who comes to mind? Chances are, it wasn’t the one who knew the curriculum backwards and forwards or had perfect lesson plans, it was likely the one who made you feel important, who took an interest in your life, and encouraged you to dream …
At the beginning of the year, do you get so excited about sharing books you love that you forget to take the time needed to get to know your students as readers? I know when I first started teaching, I made assumptions about what my students knew about books and what I thought they should …
Getting ready to return for the new school year? Or maybe you’ve already settled into a few days or weeks? Whatever the case may be some of our ELA MATTERS contributors have some tried-and-true advice to share to help you. Take a read through for some simple helpful advice whether you are a new or …
I (Lesa from SmithTeaches9to12) always joke that teachers are lucky to have at least two new year ‘celebrations’ in which they can make a fresh start – a regular new year for the change in calendar year and back to school! And to make a fresh start there is nothing better to me than making …
By Missy Davis from ABetterWaytoTeach The beginning of the year can be overwhelming as a teacher. You want to build routines and norms while establishing clear expectations for your students. You want them to get to know you and each other. You want to establish a safe space for risk-taking. And if you’re anything like …
When I first started teaching AP Capstone we did an exercise with the book Zoom by Istvan Banyai. It is a picture book without words that tells the story of perspective. The basic question that it asks is: what would the world look like from outer space with an amazing zoom function? It is an activity …
Next to building student relationships, establishing consistent routines and procedures are the best classroom management tools you can introduce to your students. Creating predictable routines for students decreases behavior issues and increases student engagement in class. After a year where many students were online for most, if not all of their learning experience, it will …
They say two heads are better than one, so it stands to reason that students working in pairs or groups can yield greater learning outcomes than individual performance tasks. Learning from our peers is usually more memorable and impactful than traditional lecture style teaching, even for us as adults! Before we assign writing tasks to …
I’m just under 10 days away from the end of this school year and we all know this was a tough one. We thought last year was but then… but then… However, the emails that I scheduled last year for anticipated tough times this year were a saving grace for me this year. Letters to …
