Graphic Art Literacy: a Tool to Expand on Main Ideas

Students in this social studies class are making story boards and graphic representations related to their reading. This is a great way for students to practice identifying main ideas and summarizing articles. By adding the creative element, students are expressing their understanding and expanding on their learning.

Making Authentic Learning Environments: Using Space Creatively

I love that we don't confine learning to traditional classroom environments where students work in isolation. In the real world, work doesn't always happen at desk; sometimes, it's around a conference table, in an armchair, or at times, even snuggled up in bed with a laptop.  Check out these pictures of both conventional and unconventional learning spaces.

What's The Chance of a Snow Day? Strong PLCs and Purposeful Learning!

When teachers work together in PLCs to build strong and purposeful learning opportunities, kids benefit!  See the pictures and captions below for more information.

Students know what their objectives are in these two science classes (pics above and below).



Students demonstrate their learning by advocating for water conservation (pics above and below)!

Students integrate their reading skills into learning about water conservation (pic below!)

In the picture below, this PLC pair is adding relevance to their study of probability, discussing the chances of a snow day on Thursday and integrating Bill Nye the Science Guy into their integrated instruction.



Empower the Students

Getting students to evaluate work dramatically increases engagement and rigor in the classroom. In this example, students have a specific task: they are museum curators who must determine the quality of potential exhibits. Another way you can get students evaluating one another is peer review of projects/writing prior to final submission (I recommend grouping students in small heterogeneous ability groups so that each student has at least one quality review).

Building an Inclusive Environment

We wouldn't think twice about making sure all students are engaged in our curricular content, but are we putting the same effort into Flyertime? 

Ask yourself:

Do I allow kids to exclude themselves from Flyertime activites?

Do I allow some students to take over while other sit back and let them?

Do I allow students to avoid participating in class discussion?

Some suggestions for a more inclusive Flyertime:

Arrange your seating so that all students are included (see the pic below).

When doing project-based assignments, ensure that every student has a role.  I've seen many great examples of this with the MAP videos!

Have fun - even if it means dressing as a gorilla (see pic below - Don't ask me, I just work here ;)).

Future Worker Bees

A firefighter? Teacher? Superhero? Doctor?  From the earliest ages, kids begin to think about what they are going to be when they grow up.  And, in middle school, we should be connecting what they learn to those possible careers.  In a science classroom, a teacher was setting up a movie clip about plants and in doing so, asked students to think about all the jobs required to make the movie happen.

Then, in their social studies class, students got the opportunity to be town planners, applying their historical knowledge to plan streets, businesses, etc.  Working together, students determined the appropriate locations, transportation needs and so much more to make a town that would thrive in the early 1800s.