Make introductory lessons opportunities for higher-level critical thinking. One of my favorite administrative responsibilities is visiting classrooms and observing lessons. I view those visits and the follow-up conversations with teachers as opportunities to share ideas and expand our thinking about what good teaching entails. Recent conversations with teachers got me thinking about introductory lessons—the lessons
Graffiti murals promote comprehension and student voice. Some see graffiti as vandalism; others see it as a work of art. Urban artists use graffiti to send political messages—as a form of meaning making in the larger society. Indiana University Professor David Hanauer suggests that graffiti offers marginal groups the opportunity to express themselves publicly. In the middle
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Changing the classroom structure can be as effective as differentiating content. Konawaena Middle School was created as a school within a high school to meet the unique needs of the early adolescents. One of the outstanding features of this school is its commitment to the heterogeneous grouping of students. When I began teaching at Konawaena
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With more testing than ever in years past, I realized that I was forgoing the most important part of my job description, which was getting to know my students. One lazy Saturday morning, an idea came to me while watching Inside the Actors Studio. Why not hold an interview for my students and allow their
Read More… from Getting to Know Your Students: Inside Room 801
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Two years ago our school underwent a reorganization to create a designated middle school. Previously the school was split into two parts: Lower School which included Montessori sixth grade and Upper School which was grades 7 through 12. Administrators recognized the differences in the middle grades and a new principal was hired to oversee the
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Exploring the five plagues of complex text. One of the most important aspects of teaching literacy in the classroom is text selection, the process by which teachers choose what their students will read. For many teachers, text selection boils down to choosing something that will engage students and motivate them to read. Reasonable diversity in
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