As teachers, we are always looking for ways to create new and engaging lesson plans that students actually enjoy. The main problem though, is that students always seem so “bored” by school. Over the past six months, I set out to think about why they are so bored. And then it hit me…our students thrive Read More
Albert J. Sanders, Jr. still remembers the excitement he felt on Christmas day. He recalls that it was about 1985. Sanders was only in second or third grade at that time, when he unwrapped the greatest gift ever – a Voltron, Defender of the Universe toy. “It was a really cool toy!” he said. “There Read More
Vocabulary instruction is such a common (and boring) component of most curriculums that even we teachers sometimes forget just how difficult – and critical – it is. We thoughtfully plan out our units, penciling in days for inquiry based projects and cooperative learning activities …. and then suddenly it hits us: Where are we going Read More
Read any good books lately? If you have, I can almost guarantee it wasn’t a middle school textbook. Maybe it was a great mystery thriller by John Grisham, or something from the Game of Thrones series your brother-in-law keeps talking about. Maybe it was a romance novel you smuggled to the beach and read while Read More
Crawling into your classroom cave, donning a white coat to perform surgery, or jumping into a retro video game are just a few of the ways I love to engage students. I began seeing classroom transformations across social media and knew this was the answer! I researched ideas long before production and specifically tailored them Read More
Cedar Hill Elementary in Jefferson City looks a lot like other elementary schools across the state and country. Blocks of brightly colored tiles are inlaid in the floor. Teachers lead students through the halls with reminders to “follow the person in front of you.” Some students follow, some don’t – some practice their dance moves Read More
Teacher—at first glance, it appears to be a rather ordinary word. Yet, for me, teacher evokes the extraordinary passion I have for my profession. The future is continually formed within the teacher’s classroom, and it is part of my philosophy, my mission, to ensure that future is bright. I recently talked with a former student Read More
Problem solving, teamwork and presentation skills are the sorts of benefits students can receive through the hands-on, real-world instruction of project-based learning. Lessons learned from project-based agriculture classes recently paid off big for four Missouri FFA chapters. They each won top prizes at a national competition in Indianapolis. The Marshall chapter was recognized as the Read More
As a teacher, you may wonder whether your daily lessons, student engagement and hours (weeks, years) of preparation will leave a lasting impression on the children in your classroom. Remember the words of the Dalai Lama: “Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have Read More
The public may think of gifted classes as a room full of super-smart prodigies who excel in school on their way to the Ivy League. But teachers of gifted programs and parents of gifted kids know that their students are much more than really bright. They are culturally, racially, and socially diverse, they may feel Read More