Students’ grades should never be dependent upon the work or lack of work of other students. No exceptions. Ever since group work came to the fore of preferred pedagogy, this issue has remained ignored. Most teachers don’t even think about it when they’re assigning group work. They simply put the kids in a group (or […]
The Importance of Fine Motor Skills
Our kids can’t cut. It’s costing us a lot of money. It’s costing them a lot of learning. Normally, I don’t write articles for the website with lots of citation to research, saving that for journal articles. However, I’ve put some in here because I think it’s important to recognize that this isn’t just my […]
3 Steps to an Effective Apology
As a teacher, one of the most important skills my students need to develop to have healthy relationships with their peers is to learn how to offer an apology. A mumbled, “Sorry” with the head down and the toe of the shoe scuffing the floor is not what I mean. A facetious, forced, blithe, […]
The Epic Teacher Resource List
Have I got a mega list of teacher resources and ideas for you today, my friends. On July 16th, I was in Houston (Katy, to be precise) facilitating a GT professional development for the Houston GT Co-op. There were 300 awesome teachers there. I asked them all to share a teaching tip, a tech […]
Summer Learning Lures: The Alternative to the Summer Assignment
Look, I get it. We want kids to read. We want to avoid the dreaded “summer slide.” We want kids prepared for the work they’re going to have. But Friends, there’s a better way than packets and assigned tasks that go undone, leading students to start a new year behind and feeling either defiant or […]
Why Schools Should Ditch Summer Assignments
It’s summer vacation where I live right now (shout out to my Southern Hemisphere peeps in the middle of winter), but if you peek over the shoulder of tens of thousands of students theoretically on vacation right now, you’d never know it. All over, instead of being outside climbing trees or curled up in a […]
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