Saturday, 21 May 2011 17:45
Tip #36: Open House
My school will be hosting its annual Open House soon, and I thought I would share some ideas this week about this important annual event.
I have mixed feelings about Open House. On one hand, I believe it can be a valuable opportunity for teachers and students to display with pride the work they’ve done during the preceding months. On the other hand, Open House often becomes a big show, a form of end-of-the-line inspection where visitors walk through your room to evaluate you and your students.
I have mixed feelings about Open House. On one hand, I believe it can be a valuable opportunity for teachers and students to display with pride the work they’ve done during the preceding months. On the other hand, Open House often becomes a big show, a form of end-of-the-line inspection where visitors walk through your room to evaluate you and your students.
Saturday, 14 May 2011 17:45
Tip #35: The Quality Certification Project (Part 3 of 3)
The Teaching Tips will focus on the topic of The Quality Certification Project for the next three weeks.
Week 1: Introducing the Quality Certification Project
Week 2: Specific Portfolio Requirements
Week 3: The Benefits of the Quality Certification Project
The Benefits of the Quality Certification Project
Week 1: Introducing the Quality Certification Project
Week 2: Specific Portfolio Requirements
Week 3: The Benefits of the Quality Certification Project
The Benefits of the Quality Certification Project
Saturday, 07 May 2011 17:45
Tip #34: The Quality Certification Project (Part 2 of 3)
The Teaching Tips will focus on the topic of The Quality Certification Project for the next three weeks.
Week 1: Introducing the Quality Certification Project
Week 2: Specific Portfolio Requirements
Week 3: The Benefits of the Quality Certification Project
Specific Portfolio Requirements
Week 1: Introducing the Quality Certification Project
Week 2: Specific Portfolio Requirements
Week 3: The Benefits of the Quality Certification Project
Specific Portfolio Requirements
Saturday, 30 April 2011 17:45
Tip #33: The Quality Certification Project (Part 1 of 3)
The Teaching Tips will focus on the topic of The Quality Certification Project for the next three weeks.
Week 1: Introducing The Quality Certification Project
Week 2: Specific Portfolio Requirements
Week 3: The Benefits of The Quality Certification Project
Introducing The Quality Certification Project
Week 1: Introducing The Quality Certification Project
Week 2: Specific Portfolio Requirements
Week 3: The Benefits of The Quality Certification Project
Introducing The Quality Certification Project
Saturday, 23 April 2011 17:45
Tip #32: Rock Your Students' World, Part 4: The Slouch Game
"The Slouch Game" marks the conclusion of my 4-part "Rock Your Students' World" series of instructional videos. I filmed these short videos with five of my former students recently one day after school. Each Teaching Tip over this four week period features one of the videos.
Saturday, 16 April 2011 17:45
Tip #31: Rock Your Students' World, Part 3: Place Value Hopscotch
"Place Value Hopscotch" is the third of my 4-part "Rock Your Students' World" series of instructional videos. I filmed these short videos with five of my former students recently one day after school. Each Teaching Tip over this four week period will feature one of the videos.
Saturday, 09 April 2011 17:45
Tip #30: Rock Your Students' World, Part 2: The Synonym-Antonym Jumping Game
"The Synonym-Antonym Jumping Game" is the second of my 4-part "Rock Your Students' World" series of instructional videos. I filmed these short videos with five of my former students recently one day after school. Each Teaching Tip over this four week period will feature one of the videos.
Saturday, 02 April 2011 17:45
Tip #29: Rock Your Students' World, Part 1: Moving Through The Coordinate Grid
"Moving Through The Coordinate Grid" is the first of my 4-part "Rock Your Students' World" series of instructional videos. I filmed these short videos with five of my former students recently one day after school. Each Teaching Tip over the next four weeks will feature one of the videos.
Saturday, 26 March 2011 17:45
Tip #28: Improving Your Writing Workshop (Part 4 of 4)
The Teaching Tips will focus on the topic of Writing Workshop for the next four weeks.
Week 1: Peer Revising
Week 2: The Writing Workshop Warm-up
Week 3: Four-Color Editing
Week 4: Written Reflections
Written Reflections
During a typical school day we are often so busy trying to help our students learn knowledge and skills that it can be difficult to find the time to have everyone reflect on that learning.
Such metacognitive endeavors, however, are incredibly valuable, and I try to incorporate these activities into the curriculum as frequently as possible. Sometimes I ask my students to reflect orally while other times I want them to reflect in writing.
Week 1: Peer Revising
Week 2: The Writing Workshop Warm-up
Week 3: Four-Color Editing
Week 4: Written Reflections
Written Reflections
During a typical school day we are often so busy trying to help our students learn knowledge and skills that it can be difficult to find the time to have everyone reflect on that learning.
Such metacognitive endeavors, however, are incredibly valuable, and I try to incorporate these activities into the curriculum as frequently as possible. Sometimes I ask my students to reflect orally while other times I want them to reflect in writing.
Saturday, 19 March 2011 17:45
Tip #27: Improving Your Writing Workshop (Part 3 of 4)
The Teaching Tips will focus on the topic of Writing Workshop for the next four weeks.
Week 1: Peer Revising
Week 2: The Writing Workshop Warm-up
Week 3: Four-Color Editing
Week 4: Written Reflections
Four-Color Editing
Editing is typically one of the most difficult stages of the writing process for students because it requires so much attention to detail. For many children the task can be downright overwhelming simply because they are asked to look for so many different types of mistakes at the same time, i.e., capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing, dialogue, and spelling.
A few years ago I came up with a new approach that breaks down the complex task of editing into smaller, more manageable steps. Since that time my students have become more willing, more enthusiastic, more successful editors of their own writing. I call my approach “Four-Color Editing.â€