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Tch Talks 6: Social & Emotional Learning as a Dedicated Class
What does a class dedicated to social & emotional learning look like? How do you get started? What resources are available? Find out in this Tch Talks podcast!
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Growth Mindset: Rephrasing Praise
Having a growth mindset is multifaceted. In part, it's about persistence -- adapting and trying a different approach when the first attempt fails. People with a growth mindset see feedback as critique, rather than criticism. Learning becomes its own reward and ticking off goals along the way motivates the learner
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Beat December Overwhelm with the #TchItReal Photo Challenge
You're in the homestretch towards winter break. You've almost made it. But, let's face it, this stretch isn't often pretty. If you're like many teachers, your classroom is a mess, your desk is full of papers to grade, and the bags under your eyes aren't going to go away until
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#TchWellness: Three Components of Building Trusting Relationships
This entry is the fifth post in the series #TchWellness.
This year, as I continue to focus on issues that impact teacher wellness, I had the opportunity to interview an expert in how we build trusting relationships: Nan Russell, author of Trust Inc.: How to Create a Business Culture That Will
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Teaching Is Personal: Video PD & Feedback
Teaching is personal. In fact, according to my principal, teaching is a work of heart. It's heart work, not just hard work. And not only is it heart work, the only thing more personal than teaching is going to the bathroom.
As part of a district initiative, I started video recording
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What is Your Magnification for NGSS?
Where are you in your understanding of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)?
When districts embark on the implementation of these standards, it's useful to compare the process to a high-powered microscope. What magnification are you currently using -- 4x, 10x, or 100x? Everyone will go through each of these magnifications
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Tch Talks 5: Sarah and Friends with Shawn Sheehan
In this Tch Talk Series "Sarah and Friends," Tch Laureate Sarah Brown Wessling catches up with Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year Shawn Sheehan to hear his advice to his first-year teacher self.
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Sarah Brown Wessling
Sarah Brown Wessling is a high school English teacher in Johnston, Iowa. She is the 2010 National Teacher of the
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Do the Write Thing: Working to Stop Violence Through Writing
Editor's Note: Hear more about this program from Executive Director Basma Rayess in our #anewkindofPD podcast episode found on iTunes and Stitcher.
Michael had suffered for years as the result of his mother's alcoholism. A teacher encouraged Michael to participate in a program where students could write about their experiences with
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High-Tech, Low-Tech: Two Time-Saving Tools for Science Teachers
I'm a big fan of science notebooks for students. My students use notebooks to develop Cornell Notes from content material, record and analyze lab data, and create "interactive notebook" elements like foldables, flashcards, and puzzles.
I'm NOT a big fan of the lengthy process that ensues when attempting to assess student
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Even If It's Something Small: Students Reflect On Election 2016 From The South Bronx
Last Wednesday morning, before the school doors opened for our middle and high school students, Mr. David, our principal at Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists in New York City, announced over the loudspeaker that we'd have a short faculty meeting in the library. A few of my colleagues
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#TchWellness: TRUST. Give it to Get it
This entry is the fourth post in the series #TchWellness.
As part of Teaching Channel's #TchWellness series, I'm connecting with a series of authors who are helping me -- and you -- understand issues impacting teachers. Our first, Nan Russell, author of Trust, Inc.: How to Create a Business Culture That
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Five Powerful Ideas For Student Engagement
As students walk into school every fall, I focus on routines and procedures emphasizing classroom management. I have students repeatedly practice these expectations to effectively maintain a safe and engaging classroom. However, over the past few years, in addition to focusing on routines and procedures, I've become increasingly interested in
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Tch Talks 4: Infusing SEL In the Classroom
Discover how creating a classroom that includes social and emotional learning can start tomorrow on this Tch Talks podcast.
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Crafting Deeper Collaboration: An Invitation
Regardless of context, we'd all likely agree that facilitating student collaboration isn't an easy task. And if we're being fully transparent, we can confess that sometimes it's downright painful! Somewhere along the secondary grades, we tend to lose sight of explicitly teaching students skills such as collaboration, and rather expect
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Teaching For Civic Engagement: Academic Discussion
Editor's note: The links in this blog will download the materials Mr. Colley is referring to in the text; the first a Powerpoint file, the next two are Word docs.
See Matt’s Video on Teaching Channel: Encouraging Students to Take Action
One of the first skills I focus on in my classroom
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What NGSS Course Pathways Do You See For High School Students?
Transitions can be both exciting and marked by uncertainty. As a science coordinator and classroom coach, I'm learning about NGSS K-12 transition as I go. I'm sure the same is true for many of you. After reading "A Framework for K-12 Science Education," by National Research Council (NRC) and spending
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Why I Write Minecraft-Inspired Fiction
I came to writing books for kids through a very peculiar path. My journey began when my son discovered Minecraft.
According to Common Sense Media, "Minecraft is an open-ended, exploration- and creation-focused environment. Players can create items and buildings from scratch using materials they harvest from the world around them." My
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Shifting From “Learning About” To “Figuring It Out” For The NGSS
As I shift my instruction to meet the requirements of the Next Generation Science Standards, I often ask myself: How can I make science a phenomenal experience for my students? I think the key to unlocking the answer to this question lies in discovery -- in my willingness to figure out
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Signing Off
Tch was founded on a simple idea: To open classroom doors, elevate our ideas on what is possible, inspire and give hope, and ultimately, chip away at the isolation of our profession (the latter of these less simple, of course).
I joined Tch two years into this experiment as the Chief
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Tch Talks 3: Sarah & Friends with Leah Alcala
Leah Alcala, well known to the Teaching Channel community from her popular videos such as My Favorite No and Highlighting Mistakes: A Grading Strategy, talks with Sarah Brown Wessling about her teaching journey. Now a Math teacher at Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California, Leah recounts what she's learned over the years about the craft
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Five Ways To Close A Lesson
Most of us realize the importance of a warm-up to get our bodies and minds ready, whether we're talking about exercising, singing, or learning. But what about the cool down? How you close a lesson is just as important as how you open it. Yet all too often, we run
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Teaching For Civic Engagement
Teaching for civic engagement is rewarding, challenging, and uncertain work. Civic engagement is some of the most important and vital work I do as a teacher, but it's also difficult to define, assess, and break down for students. Ultimately, it's these challenges that make the work worthwhile. This series is
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Illustrative Mathematics: We Want To Collaborate With YOU!
We've found collaboration with one another to be an invaluable component of our professional learning. In every conversation we have around the math, the lesson, and student work, we learn so much. Since we know it's not always easy to find the time to meet, especially living on opposite coasts,
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The Struggles Of Being A Teacher Leader
Balance.
This is something that often eludes me as I work through my day. Where does the time go?
One of my all-time favorite pieces on Tchers’ Voice is Sarah Brown Wessling's blog post, A Letter to My Children: What it Means to be a Teacher. Throughout the post, Sarah shares the
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Teacher Leadership Helped Me Find My Voice
I am the baby of my family. For as long as I can remember, this placement has meant constantly trying to make sure everyone was taken care of and happy. By the time I reached school age, people pleasing was common practice for me. I wanted to make others proud