“Well, There’s Your Problem”: Diagnosing and Responding to Failure in the Classroom
A review of Alex Quigley’s Why Learning Fails (And What to Do About It) The first lesson I ever taught was a […]
Listening to Holden: A Case for Teaching The Catcher in the Rye
J. D. Salinger issues several salvos against traditional education in his bildungsroman The Catcher in the Rye. The first occurs when Holden […]
Understanding “The Other” and Ourselves: Using Memoir and Autobiography in Middle School and High School Classrooms
I love memoir and autobiography as a genre. Throughout my time as a reader, they have played a key role in helping […]
Sowing Seeds of Success: Cultivating Safe, Joyful Classrooms in the Early Weeks of School through Social-Emotional Learning
It’s a crisp October afternoon, and my first grade classroom is filled with excitement around our autumn leaves investigation. Some students are […]
Encouraging Classroom Management in One Word
In my role as a faculty associate, I have the privilege of supervising students who are entering their practicum experiences in anticipation […]
We Are Enough: Tips on Classroom Management
The summer before my first teaching job, my uncle Gus gave me permission to use his “perfect” first day of school technique […]
“Chair-ished Spaces”: Space-Making to Make Positive Impacts for Life
How do you place your students in the classroom? In rows, columns, table groups, stations, circles . . . Mickey Mouse ears […]
How Do We Know What Works with the New Generations? An Invitational Behavior Framework
Bridging the Generational Divide: Navigating the Classroom in a Rapidly Changing World The classroom is not like it was when you were […]
“We’re More Popular than Jesus”: Teaching John Lennon’s Body of Work in a Christian School
Almost six decades ago, in an article for The London Standard, Maureen Cleave, a journalist and friend of the Beatles, wrote an […]
Integrating Music into the Elementary Classroom Culture
I didn’t major in music, and I don’t carry a guitar into my classroom each morning. I doubt anyone will ask me […]