Build Community Through Class Meetings
Everyone wants to belong. As educators, we not only have the task of educating students, but also the responsibility of creating an environment that is inclusive of young people with different ethnic backgrounds, languages, values, socio-economic and academic levels.
How Math Helped Me Build A Strong Classroom Community
When I moved to a new school in the late ‘90s, one of the first things my new principal told me was that there was a lot of racial tension at our school. Our school included African American, Hmong, Latino, Pacific Islander and White students. I was told that recent conflicts in the neighborhood created an atmosphere of distrust on our campus.
Soldiers, Headshots, and Water Bottles
Project Showcases are one of my favorite events in schools. The showcase is the culmination of a unit where students learn deeply and present their understanding in a variety of interesting and creative ways. Families and community members get to listen, ask questions, encourage, and learn. I’ve seen hundreds of student presentations over the years, but there are a few presentations that, in my opinion, were extraordinary. The students described below were incredibly knowledgeable but it was the way they presented that made a lasting impression.
Look Who’s Talking
All I Heard Was Crickets
I was excited about the lesson I designed for my classroom observation. Students were going to make predictions about a text we were going to read as a whole class. What could be more exciting? I projected a covered image and slowly revealed partial images of the picture. Students were asked to make predictions about the picture.
