It’s easy to forget that all students have different personality styles. As educators, we often adopt one way of motivating regardless of the individual we are dealing with. For instance, I know a guidance counselor who is a former football …
The assumption is parents want the best possible education for their children. Getting this sometimes requires some insistence. Occasionally, a child will need something beyond what the curriculum and first tier of supports will provide. The school should notice this …
1611. 1729. 1847. When connected to reading passages, these are frightening dates. They are, in fact, the publication dates of Macbeth, A Modest Proposal and Jane Eyre, all of which have appeared in classrooms and on standardized tests. If you …
Making the classroom resemble the workplace is tricky. The first issue is whether or not a classroom should feel like a workplace. Is the classroom meant to be a laboratory for learning, or a place to practice for particular jobs? …
True, contemporary classrooms are meant to be bustling hubs of activity. At all grade levels, the expectation is students will learn by doing and interacting. Keeping these classrooms humming would seem to require an extroverted person who exudes a certain …
There’s more to school than reading, writing, and arithmetic. School is perhaps a student’s first interaction with a social environment outside of his or her own family. It is important that we create environments in which students can grow into …
Little in American culture represents spring the way baseball does. It doesn’t just represent spring, though. It’s an inextricable part of the season in this country. At this time of year, with the days getting longer and the temperature rising, …
Ah yes, the home stretch, the light at the end of the tunnel, the finish line: it’s getting to be that time of year when the end comes into view. With the buds and the dandelions comes an itch to …
Spring brings senioritis, a phenomenon so real that Microsoft Word apparently recognizes it as a legitimate word. For graduating seniors, the anticipation has been building for months, if not years. As the weather gets warmer and the date can be …
Everyone has a story. When we fail to understand others’ stories, we fail to understand their experiences, their perspectives, and their struggles. We can’t truly know someone without knowing his or her narrative. Case in point: I tutored a student …