Do you remember learning to drive? You probably didn’t learn by reading a how-to manual or listening to your parents lecture about driving. Most likely, you watched your parents operate a car while giving you step-by-step instructions. You probably learned through demonstrations and practice.  It’s the same way in education, and that’s where the strategy […] ...

One of the most important skills students need to be equipped with in today’s society is judging the credibility of sources. In the past, gatekeepers mediated all information that was dispersed to the public. Nowadays, anyone with a computer can project their voice out to the masses. This technology is a double-edged sword.  It is […] ...

Teachers have a lot on their plates, but one of the most challenging and time-consuming tasks is grading student essays. Even if you give your students a 2-page limit, grading 150 papers can take hours. It’s difficult to give each of your students the specific, helpful feedback you want to provide (at least if you’re […] ...

When I was in high school, I turned in paper copies of all my essays and got them back marked up in red pen. The teacher gave us a few minutes to look over our corrections and then we either threw them away or filed them at the backs of our binders. This system worked […] ...

The light at the end of the tunnel is visible to teachers all over the country: summer vacation. The summer months are a chance to develop our proficiency in three different R’s: Reset, Revitalize, and Relax. In the same way that we teachers take different approaches to how we teach curriculum, these R’s are approached […] ...

While much of the research around strategies for teaching English Language Learners focuses on those who are just beginning their study of English, many of the same methods can be adapted to teach students who have been studying English as a second language for years. When I was teaching middle and high school English in […] ...

It’s a never ending search trying to find clever hacks and new techniques to make the note taking process easier for our students. Many websites and apps offer features and tools to help stay on task and organized. One tried and true note taking method that has lasted the test of time? The good ol’ […] ...

Life keeps teaching you the same lessons until you learn them. Next year, I will have finally learned my lesson about teaching plagiarism in high school: do it early.  At the beginning of the year I’m always so excited to meet my new students and learn about their literary interests and writing skills that I […] ...

In high school, I was one of the lucky ones: a visual learner. To this day, I prefer to sit down and read an article as opposed to listening to a podcast. Many of my classmates were not so fortunate. In many cases they slipped through the cracks, missing out on valuable knowledge and skills […] ...

A few weeks ago a student walked out of my class angry and frustrated because he hadn’t  finished his fifth timed writing assignment of the year. Before he’d even started writing, I had given him some advice on writing a concluding sentence, knowing this was a weakness of his. I told him a story of […] ...