Catherine Crenshaw, 4th Grade Teacher, Beaverton, Oregon. Every year, I have that one student who for some reason stands out instantly from all the rest. After 22 years as an elementary general education teacher, I’ve not only come to expect this, I start looking for that child immediately. This year, when all the other third […]
CONTINUE READINGHeather Anderson, Interventionist and Instructional Coach at Juniper Elementary, Bend, Oregon, 2016 Oregon Teacher of the Year The beginning of the year is always an exciting time. New students, new hopes, new dreams. Building relationships is a key component to the new school year and essential to student success. I believe that taking time in the beginning of […]
CONTINUE READINGBy Judy Harris with contribution from Beau Canfield, Special Education Teacher, Central Point School District, Central Point, OR The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can write that chapter by setting goals. ~ Melody Beattie, author. As October rolls in, the tempo in the school […]
CONTINUE READINGToday we talked to Teacher Voices blogger Ruth Schackmann about understanding different student learning styles in her classroom. Can you define learning styles for us? Learning styles, or how an individual student approaches a range of tasks, can be categorized in a variety of ways. Students can be categorized as Visual/Auditory/Kinesthetic or Right Brain/Left Brain, […]
CONTINUE READINGMy mentor once made the observation that during class discussion, I missed calling on four students. She pointed out that by not calling on them, I was sending them the message that I didn’t believe they could answer the questions. Nothing could be further from the truth! I believe every child can learn. Her observation […]
CONTINUE READINGThis is the second blog in Ruth Schackmann’s series, Classroom Strategies Based on Data. Here, we talked to Ruth about using seating charts in her classroom. Have you always used seating charts? When I started teaching, my classroom never had a seating chart. I might have had one the first few days, but soon students […]
CONTINUE READINGI use more formal assessments as tools to gauge mastery in many different areas. This is where the garden begins forking. I am looking for so much data that is not directly reported in the scores for these assessments. Do students know what is going on in the book? Are students able to communicate their […]
CONTINUE READINGMy personal theory of assessment is kind of a blend between Hemingway’s famous quote on writing and Borges’ Garden of Forking Paths: Re: Hemingway. He says the dignity of movement of an iceberg is that it is only ⅛ above water. If writers know what they are doing, then they may omit things, and still […]
CONTINUE READINGAs the first point of contact for kids and curious parents, managing the process and expectations of assessment can be an understandably stressful task for many teachers. This week, Assessment Literacy takes a practical look at how veteran, data-savvy educators prepare for this key aspect of their work through training programs and on-the-job learning. A […]
CONTINUE READINGAs the first point of contact for kids and curious parents, managing the process and expectations of assessment can be an understandably stressful task for many teachers. This week, Assessment Literacy takes a practical look at how veteran, data-savvy educators prepare for this key aspect of their work through training programs and on-the-job learning. A […]
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