Posted inBook Review, Featured, Opinion, Uncategorized

Do your 'Assignments Matter'? A Book Review

Eleanor Dougherty’s Assignments Matter is a great book. Assignments make up a bulk of what teachers do, and probably take for granted. We give assignments because that’s what teachers do. Dougherty shows that just giving assignments is not enough. She encourages teachers to analyze the process so they are choosing assignments that provide an authentic […]

Posted inBook Review, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy

How Readicide Has Changed My Teaching and Purchasing Practices

Readicide is defined as, “the systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices often found in schools.” I fear I was a Readicide practitioner in my early years of teaching, but I am now trying to recover and adopt practices suggested in Kelly Gallagher’s book Readicide. Gallagher points to a crisis […]

Posted inBook Review, Featured, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy

Book Review: Vocabulary StrategiesThat Work: Do This – Not That!

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] In Vocabulary Strategies That Work: Do This-Not That! Lori G. Wilfong does an amazing job of bringing to light the importance of students actually learning vocabulary and making it useful instead […]

Posted inBook Review, Common Core, Featured, Opinion

“Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans: Ready-to-Use Resources, 6-8”: A Book Review

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] With the implementation of the new Common Core Standards teachers everywhere are trying to wrap their brains around how these standards will look in their own classrooms.  Being a busy mother […]

Posted inBook Review, Uncategorized

Book Review: Neurodiversity in the Classroom

In Neurodiversity in the Classroom, best-selling author Thomas Armstrong continues to present concepts that stand to revolutionize the way students with learning disabilities are taught and thought of by educators. I am no stranger to Armstrong’s work and became a proponent of his as a young teacher when I read his work on multiple intelligences. […]

Posted inBook Review, Elementary School, Featured, Kindergarten, Uncategorized

What Really Matters for Students: A Review of "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character"

The Educator’s Room Book Review: “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character,” by Paul Tough Paul Tough has re-entered the education discussion with How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character as a fresh voice in the discussion about student achievement.  For us teachers, this discussion can be […]