A teacher’s guide to planning a high-interest, engaging writing project Three years ago an eighth grade class of mine had a blog project called “Dear Terrorist” where students researched their topics and wrote letters to anyone considering (or participating in) a decision that could harm themselves or others. One girl wrote an open letter to
Successful advisory programs can have significant positive impacts on student engagement Does this sound familiar? Advisory programs? What a waste of time! Students just goof around. Advisory programs? Great idea, but who’s going to put it together? I’m way too busy already. Advisory programs? What we need is more time for academics, not less. Advisory
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In 2015 I attended a leadership training with Tony Robbins. It was a rare experience that changed both my lens on leadership and my personal life. The four days of 10-14 hours per day were high energy and filled with personalized content. It was the most exhilarating and empowering leadership training I have ever experienced!
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This is part 4 in “Mentor Me” questions about Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). There are five components of SEL: self-awareness, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, social awareness, and self-management. Classrooms where teachers both overtly and organically teach these crucial skills give students the tools they need to be successful. When I get anxious, I write things
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Helping students make sense of issues that concern them In September 2015, a haunting image of Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi circulated the world, mostly via social media. His lifeless body on the shores of Turkey was a confronting and emotive image for the average adult. For many young adolescents, it was unimaginable. The “why” was
Read More… from Get Real: Worthy Curriculum for Worldly Adolescents
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Moving Beyond Tech-Rich Classrooms Imagine being tasked with teaching a class of restless adolescents, all of whom have different learning styles, strengths, interests, and needs. Or perhaps this daunting scenario is not so farfetched at all. A team of innovative teachers at Middletown Middle School (MMS) in Frederick County, Maryland, decided to try something vastly
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