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When I realized that I was unintentionally disengaging from some students, I developed a classroom management practice that ensures equal participation and on-the-fly formative assessments. I use a deck of playing cards, each of which is marked with a student's name, to determine who will answer the next question. The…
To understand what a real essay is, we have to reach back into history again, though this time not so far. To Michel de Montaigne, who in 1580 published a book of what he called "essais." He was doing something quite different from what lawyers do, and the difference is embodied in the name. Essayer is the French verb…
The Age of the Essay September 2004 Remember the essays you had to write in high school? Topic sentence, introductory paragraph, supporting paragraphs, conclusion. The conclusion being, say, that Ahab in Moby Dick was a Christ-like figure. Oy. So I'm going to try to give the other side of the story: what an essay…
Classroom Library Environment The classroom has a clearly designated, accessible, and inviting library space. The classroom has several areas for students to read comfortably. Classroom rituals and routines are established to support student self-management of independent reading. The library area has room for 3 or 4…
1. Every child reads something he or she chooses. 2. Every child reads accurately. 3. Every child reads something he or she understands. 4. Every child writes about something personally meaningful. 5. Every child talks with peers about reading and writing. 6. Every child listens to a fluent adult read aloud.
A mantra among hackers is “Less Yack, More Hack.” The hacker is a bricoleur, involved in “making do,” and, in doing so, recovering a non-alienated self. Yet being a “hacker” is more than mere individual inventiveness. It involves a larger set of ideals. A hacker should always practice freedom of expression, respect…
Also central to the Hacker Ethic is playfulness. At a 2006 O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, Matt Webb and Ben Cerveny wrote, “Hacking is a playful act. In a primal sense, play is the investigation and experimentation with borders and combinations” (O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, website). Despite…
Every time you read aloud to students, you are modeling good reading skills. From fluency to voice inflection, it is important for students to hear good reading so that they can imitate it in their own reading. Specifically, reading aloud to students: Provides motivation for reading and learning. By listening to a…
Component 1: Reading Aloud Reading aloud can be done as a full class activity, in small groups, or on a one-to-one basis. It involves an adult reading a piece of text or a book out loud to students. However it is done, it is a teacher-directed activity that requires student participation, as Debra Morrison indicates…
Read to your child. Try to read to your child every day. Read from a wide variety of materials and books. Encourage writing. Encourage your child to scribble and pretend write if they are young. Encourage older children to write stories and letters and share them with the family. Have writing materials readily…
An understanding of what the Internet is. "I found it on the Internet" is not an accurate statement. You found it on a computer connected to the World Wide Web. Ways to formulate queries. Typing "childhood obesity" into a search engine is not the best way to discover what health problems are associated with being…
Here are some examples of the principles that teachers can use to expand concepts presented in formal course material. These principles don't have to be taught in the context of any particular class. It's an empirical question. This is a comment that ought to terminate many more conversations than it does. For many of…
Modern literacy has always meant being able to both read and write narrative in the media forms of the day, whatever they may be. Just being able to read is not sufficient. For centuries, this has meant being able to consume and produce words through reading and writing and, to a lesser extent, listening and speaking…
Here’s the question I’ve been asking myself: When technology enables a person to make something that looks professional without having to master any degree of craft, does that increase or decrease the likelihood of creativity? And can educators be lulled into a false impression that they have been developing…
“I ain’t mad atcha” or “I am not angry with you.” Which should you say? Well, we’re teachers. Our quick response: “The latter.” Grammar and usage are typical components of speech rubrics— topics students need to think about as part of building a spoken presentation. But that doesn’t mean it’s always correct to choose…
...innovation often occurs through sequencing—building on prior innovation. Recall that suitcases didn't used to have wheels. Then someone created a suitcase with two wheels. Now many suitcases have four wheels. What helpful improvement on the suitcase might come next? I've pitched this question to students, who then…
Fluency List other ways to express the idea... What ideas or words come to mind when... What are new ways to do... Situations in which something might occur... Other uses for an object or invention... Flexibility Describe many possible changes... List different ways to modify... In what ways might... Originality…
Why do some children find Math hard to learn? I suspect that this is often caused by starting with the practice and drill of a bunch of skills called Arithmetic—and instead of promoting inventiveness, we focus on preventing mistakes. I suspect that this negative emphasis leads many children not only to dislike…
A new class of 6-year-old children will soon begin to share similar ways to think and behave. Then, next year, when they are 7 years old, most of those pupils will still remain in that group—and thus will tend to perpetuate those same patterns of activity. The next year, they will be 8-year-olds, but will continue to…
Tell all the Truth but tell it slant— Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind— When we first discussed this text with the two teachers who were leading the…