Group items tagged

"Research shows that reflecting after learning something new makes it stick in your brain."

"A new book says it's possible-but only if teachers get their students to care about learning for learning's sake."

Defines PBL and provides research, project guides, resources, and examples. 

How private schools post strong test scores.

Will discusses the shift to teachers as lead learners and schools as cultures of inquiry.

Besides being an interesting resource for information (depending on article and author), this might be a way for students to get some work published on the web.

Ike once warned of the miliatry industrial complex and now Ravith warns of the new edu-entrepreneurial industry. That is the ground we feel shifting under our feet.

These student writing sample papers are organized by trait, score, and grade level. The student sample papers are scored on all traits except presentation. We did not score presentation because the papers have been retyped for publication and are no longer in student handwriting or student-produced word processing

A nice overview of PLCs and how they work

Other than a mention of the need to "evaluate information from multiple oral, visual, or multimodal sources," there is no specific reference in the common standards to critical analysis and production of film, television, advertising, radio, news, music, popular culture, video games, media remixes, and so on. Nor is there explicit attention on fostering critical analysis of media messages and representations. A 1999 national survey of state standards found elements of media literacy in almost every state's teaching standards. As states adopt the common-core standards, the result may actually be a reduced focus on media and literacy instruction formally contained in state standards. We therefore recommend four ways to address the common standards' limited focus on media/digital literacies:

"Graham's review of the research doesn't resolve the age-old debate of whether students learn writing best naturally -  just by doing it - or through explicit writing instruction. But there are effective practices where the research is unequivocal. Distressingly, many teachers aren't using them. "We have confirmation of things we know that work, but are not applied in the classroom," said Graham. Here are three: Spend more time writing, Write on a computer, and traditional grammar instruction doesn't work.

NewsTrust has created a set of teacher guides that will help you teach your students the difference between good and bad journalism. These guides include interactive lesson plans for college and high school classes in journalism, civics, social studies, communications and more

An interview of Stephen King in which he shares some of his teaching experiences. Jessica Lahey "asked King to expound on the parts of On Writing [she loves] most: the nuts and bolts of teaching, the geekiest details of grammar, and his ideas about how to encourage a love of language in all of our students."

"When it comes to creating a community of writers, there is no perfect formula. Trial and error, as well as a few specific steps, may help you begin the process in your classroom, no matter what subject matter or age you teach. Like every other worthy endeavor, writing requires practice. That's why from day one, students should see writing as an integral part of your class. You might even consider incorporating writing into your ice-breaker. Have your students mimic a poem, do a random autobiography, or draft scavenger hunt questions. Let students experience variety and choice. They shouldn't craft only formal, academic papers in your class. They should see that writing fits a variety of purposes and patterns. Online blogs, creative writing, written instructions, and other forms of written expression should be part of your curriculum."