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Have you read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie?
You haven’t?
Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore or surf your way over to your favorite e-retailer.
Archive for the ‘Tips for Teachers’ Category
Book Buzz: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Quick Teaching Tip: History Hunt Revisited
Monday, June 7th, 2010For some of you, it’s the end of the school year.
You are tired.
You are writing report cards or narratives.
You are packing up your classroom and squirreling away the supplies for next year that have already arrived in hopes that the summer program that is using your classroom will not find your fresh stock of crayons and help themselves (or was that just my own experience?).
For some of you, you are on vacation. You are lying in a darkened bedroom recovering from the school year.
You are sipping an iced Starbucks drink and wearing open toed shoes.
Differentiation: A model lesson
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010I have been thinking a lot about snowflakes lately, which is strange because I live in California and it is spring. However, my kindergartner is completely fascinated by snowflakes, mostly because each one is unique, like no other in the universe. And not to sound trite, but so are students. Unique. Like no other in the universe. Recently I spoke at a career panel and was asked by a sixth grade girl, “Why do you like teaching?” I stopped and thought about why I liked being a teacher. What did teaching mean to me? As I looked out over the sea of young women sitting there, I knew my answer. I like the puzzle of teaching to the unique. I thrive on figuring out how to make EVERY child learn what is just right for them. I gauge my success as a teacher upon how effectively I succeed at this. I believe that it is this constant need to advocate for every learner that makes this profession so very interesting. Let’s face it–it requires flexibility, creativity and plain old mental Olympics to achieve this in the classroom.
Quick Teaching Tip: History Hunt
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
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Today’s quick tip is in honor of the social studies and history teachers out there. While I have only blogged a bit about this area of education, it is actually my favorite to teach. I loved using this technique in my classroom when looking at a historical figure or event in more detail. This is a fabulous activity for any grade K-8 classroom with a tad bit of adjustment based on the age.
Did you know that April 13 is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday? In honor of the third president of the United States, we will be shaping our activity around his life. Here is what you do:
Quick Teaching Tip: Jolly Caucus Race Proofreading
Thursday, April 8th, 2010Greetings, faithful readers!
I am coming off of an inspiring evening speaking at a career fair with the Girl Scouts of San Diego-Imperial Council, hosted by the Junior League of San Diego. During this event I addressed 50+ 6th through 9th graders about the career of “Teacher.” I was a bit nervous…after all, most of these girls spend a lot of time at schools with teachers, so what would I have to add? To make matters worse, there were some really cool jobs on the panel…gemologist, anyone? I decided to talk with these girls about why I love to teach rather than what teaching was all about. I explained about the creativity, the challenge of reaching all students, the humor required, and the joy of watching learning as it takes place. Ultimately, remembering why I love education was important. If you haven’t taken a moment recently to remember why you entered this field and why it is so wonderful…pause for a moment and remember. It is completely revitalizing!