A classroom blog gives you a place to report daily on what happens at school, to have conversations with students without time pressure, to share resources and information. So how can you get started with one? Free blogging platforms There are lots of places online where you can set up… Continue reading
My first class of the year went well. I have lots of interesting students in the class, people spoke up, no one fell asleep, the level of engagement was high and the amount of obvious texting was low. The time came to get people into groups for the first… Continue reading
I’ve just read The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game by Lee Sheldon. Sheldon, who teaches video game design, set up his whole classroom as a multiplayer game in which students went on quests and leveled to the next highest grade. He has written a book about it… Continue reading
File folder centers can really help you differentiate instruction, allowing extra practice for those who need it and also allowing fast finishers to move on to additional activities that will challenge them. You can use books like those from Scholastic’s Mini File-Folder Centers in Color series to create centers. Just… Continue reading
We think that one of the secrets to a happy, relaxed school year is starting out very organized. Then a certain amount of chaos can creep in without making you feel completely stressed out. Organize your goals Start with some goals, whether for yourself apart from school, yourself as… Continue reading
If you’re tired of cafeteria food, flying through the drive-through, and the temptations of lemon bars in the staff lunchroom, we have an alternative. Pack yourself a snazzy lunch. We like bento boxes, Japanese lunch boxes that keep food tightly packed and therefore not squashed. You can use leftovers or… Continue reading
Buying a gradebook is like buying underwear: you use it every day, few people will look at it but it can be important to those who do, there aren’t many big differences among the different kinds, and the little differences among them can make a big difference in how well… Continue reading
My writing classes always work with a group topic before moving on to their own personal research topics. Last year, we used climate change as our group research topic, but my summer writing class focused on happiness. I made a PowerPoint (you can download it at Happiness.org) and we… Continue reading
David Allen’s organizational system Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (those in the know call it “GTD”) promises stress-free productivity. Doesn’t that sound good right about now? GTD is different from classic time management in a couple of ways: First, instead of working from the top down (…where you want to… Continue reading
You’re not always in the classroom. Here, Josepha’s teaching about dental health in an office building. How do you avoid pandemonium in a situation like this? Read all about “Teaching in Nonstandard Situations” Continue reading
