Blog: Teaching and Coaching
Georgia Teaching Residents Give Middle Grades STEM a Boost
Curtis Martin’s dedication to teaching is reflected in the quote from Victor Hugo displayed in Martin’s email signature: “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.”
You see, before Curtis became a Georgia math teacher, he was a correctional officer for the state of Georgia and the Houston County Sheriff’s Department. Having seen too many children end up behind bars, Martin decided to work with middle-grade students to give them opportunities that can improve their chances for success in life.
5 Lessons on School Leadership I Learned at the 2024 Making Schools Work Conference
What can you do as a school leader to make a difference for your teachers, staff and students? We look at five lessons in leadership we learned at the 2024 Making Schools Work Conference.
From Laughter to Learning: 6 Lessons From the Ron Clark Academy’s Michael Bonner
Wish you were still at the 2024 Making Schools Work Conference? We can’t provide a time machine, but we can help: Check out our coverage of the opening session in this post!
Generation Z Isn’t Interested in Teaching
Why Not?
As a graduate student in 2021, I interviewed Ms. Sharpe for an assignment in my Qualitative Research II course. Ms. Sharpe, a Black woman, member of Generation Z, and a fourth-grade teacher two years removed from her educator preparation program, expressed frustration, angst, worry, pride and hopelessness.
From Hands-On to Mind-On: How to Move to Active Learning in Only Four Steps
How can you get students engaged in the learning with hands-on projects while also making sure they understand what they are learning? Try active listening!
Project-ing Your Teaching: 10 Steps to Beginning a Project-Based Learning Unit in Your Class
Have you been wanting to try project-based learning in your classroom but have no idea where to start? This 10-step guide will tell you what you need to know to create your first PBL unit!
Learning in Motion: 10 Activities to Get Your Students up and Moving With the Lesson
How can you make your class more active in order to encourage better learning? That’s the focus of this week’s post.
In this post, we talk about 10 different activities you can do from the beginning to the end of class to make it more interactive.
Three Ways to Design for Teacher-Led Growth (and Why You Should Care)
Just like you ask teachers to create environments where students feel an ownership over their learning, teachers will do well in a teaching environment where they have ownership over their own growth.
In this post, we talk about how to accomplish this teacher-led growth in your school.
Forming the Village: Ideas for Connecting with Caregivers to Reach Every Student
In this post, Dave Shepard shares ways to increase caregiver support for your students.
Once Upon a Class Time: Using Storytelling to Reach Students
In this post, we talk about tips learned from middle school teacher Josh Bovill and his experience using his own story to connect with students in his class.
The Power of a Power Career Pathway: How Western York County Created a Utility Line Worker Program
How can you put all of the tips on creating career pathways we’ve been going over the last few weeks into practice? Let’s look at how York school district one and the Clover school district in South Carolina created a utility line worker program in their school district!
Turning Childhood Dreams Into Career Development: How to Create a CTE Pipeline From Elementary to High School
At what age should you start your CTE pipeline? According to the team at Eastern Oklahoma County Technology Center, it may be earlier than you think. In this post, we talk about EOC Tech’s tips on creating a pipeline that reaches everyone from elementary students to high schoolers.
Tips on Starting a STEAM School: A Look at Jefferson Middle School
Jefferson Middle School in Columbia, Missouri, is a great example of a STEAM school that works. This is why their session at the 2023 Making Schools Work Conference was so great: They showed what made their program work and gave tips on how you can start a program at your school. And we compiled them here for you!
Mastering Master Schedules: Insight on Creating a Plan That Actually Works
How can you create a master schedule that is focused on rigor, remediation and resilience? In other words, how do you create a master schedule that will actually be useful to your teachers and students?
In this post, we talk about how Mill Creek Middle School in Tennessee utilizes promising practices in master scheduling that you may want to try for yourself.
Sharing Is Preparing: Collaborating With Students on Creating Success Criteria
We recently talked about the importance of using success criteria in your classroom. This isn’t something you have to do alone, though. Working with students to create these measures can be a great way to help them understand the purpose of your assignments.
In this post, we show you how student collaboration on success criteria can benefit everyone.
Knowing Isn’t the Same as Understanding: Tips on Aligning Your Curriculum to Encourage Deeper Learning
Students are good at learning the facts of the lesson to pass a test, However, it can be a lot harder to help them truly understand the material.
In this post, we talk about ways to help students move past knowing the assignment and reach a place of understanding…all while helping you align your curriculum to the standards.
Turn up the Boombox: How Music Can Boost Learning
Think about all of the times you’ve gotten a song stuck in your head. Music is powerful like that.
In this post, we talk about how you can take advantage of that power to help students learn. All you need to do is add a little music to your class!
Why Did the Teacher Cross the Road? To Get These Tips on Using Humor in the Classroom
In this post, we talk about all of the benefits of using humor in your classroom.
Then, once it’s clear how humor works, we’ll give you some ideas on how to incorporate it into your classroom.
7 Tools and Activities You Can Use to Keep Your Class Engaged
In this post, we give you ideas on activities you can do to make your class more engaging for your students.
If you have been looking for ways to make your class more interactive, then this is a great place to start.
New Economy, New Class: Adam Welcome Provides Questions to Ask to Transform Your Class
The world your students will encounter when they leave your classroom is different than the world you encountered when you left school. As job opportunities and technology changes, your classroom should change with it.
In the 2023 Making Schools Work Conference closing address, Adam Welcome shared ways to make sure your classroom is transforming with the times, and we have compiled them here for you.
