Also see Part One: Why? and Part Two: How? If all this has seemed good to you, you may still be wondering how we fit this in when teachers are already pressed to the limit in terms of time management. Direct Instruction There will be times in every classroom when the teacher needs to address …
Category: Classroom Mangement
Differentiate This! Part 2A
While we await part 3 about when to “fit in” differentiation, I wanted to share some of the great info I’ve received in comments or e-mail from web site visitors. Ken Pendergrass, elementary music teacher from Seattle, shares a differentiated lesson with impressive use of enhanced Garageband podcasting. Alice Mercer, Sacramento computer lab teacher and …
Differentiate This! Part Two: How?
Also see: Part One: Differentiate This! Why? (Cross-posted in In Practice) OK, we agree (or most of us do anyway) that we need to tailor our instruction to the students in our classroom. We cannot teach effectively by planning lessons in isolation without considering the interaction between what we’ve planned and the students in our …
Differentiate This! Part One: Why?
A post about classroom management here on the blog recently evolved into a conversation about differentiation, a subject which I’ve written about before…on this blog and as part of my graduate studies but it’s time to revisit the subject. Why Heterogenously Group Students? This is an unintentionally misleading question that presumes that there are groups …
Classroom Management: Appropriate Consequences
This is a follow-up to my previous post on the Teacher’s Voice and its impact on classroom management. They’re Not Bored, You’re Boring A lot of teachers feel that it’s not their job to entertain students, and it’s not—but it is your job to be interesting and if you can entertain them, that’s a bonus. …
How to Use a Teacher’s Assistant
Most Teacher’s Assistants have been removed from classrooms in LAUSD because there is evidently research that shows that they do not lead to increased student achievement. One’s first reaction to this might be disbelief. How could having an extra adult in the room not increase the effectiveness of instruction? However, when you think about how …
Classroom Management: The Teacher’s Voice
My readers, I’m sure, have excellent classroom management. However, you may be called upon to help out a brand-new colleague or an overwhelmed veteran next door. I have a theory that much of a classroom’s success all depends on the teacher’s voice. Pitch Think low. Student teachers I’ve worked with who have poor classroom management …
Teachers As Salespeople
I’m trying to not get a big head but Speaker Sue has posted a very nice write-up on my entry about using Jim Cramer as inspiration for my teaching. Whereas I have been working with the metaphor of teacher as entertainer, engaging an audience and making your show make sense, Sue presents the same story …
Finding Inspiration Where You Can
I wrote previously about how Mad Money’s Jim Cramer has inspired my teaching in the way he uses explicit language objectives, realia, and a showman’s flair. Turns out other educators have found inspiration in unlikely places. Speaker Sue writes about how a performance of the Blue Man Crew is an example of powerful presentation that …
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Energize Your Classroom: How Jim Cramer Made Me a Better Teacher of English Language Learners
I’ve become a better teacher of English Language Learners by watching one of my favorite TV Shows, Jim Cramer’s Mad Money. This is a show about buying stocks. If you’re not interested in stocks you might be turned off already, but Jim Cramer is an entertainer. He takes what could be boring and incomprehensible and …