Professional Development

Starting with grade-level material and trying to extend up is a fool’s errand. It’s SO much simpler to aim high and scaffold down.

So many of us say, “I want to challenge my students!” But, would you want a job that you describe as “challenging”?

Here’s how Joelle Trayers gets even her youngest students ready to think in unexpected ways.

Rather than giving students rules to apply to websites, let them analyze websites to create rules.

Here are a bunch of ways to quickly practice creativity with your students for zero dollars.

Cindy Phan shares her method of introducing watercolor to students using a mosaic technique.

Ask students to go beyond “I don’t like it” and form critical opinions based on a set of criteria. Students can produce written arguments or turn their opinion into oral presentations.

When differentiating, most teachers simply start in the wrong place!

Melanie Bondy explains how compacting will help you to “shrink the curriculum” and give students opportunities to use their time more effectively.

What if your students designed your classroom layout?

How I accidentally discouraged curiosity in my classroom.

What separates our on-level writers from our advanced writers?

A few quick tips on how to better use graphic organizers to support higher-order thinking.

Is creating nine, two-sentence tasks really an effective way to differentiate?

Melanie Bondy, of Mine Vine Press, explains how to accelerate curriculum for your advanced students.

Here’s how you can move from merely “summarizing a text” to a high-level task that culminates in synthesis.

How knowing your material well easily becomes a curse… and what to do about it!

Some kids are exposed to a wide range of classic art, music, and films at home and others aren’t. Let’s even the playing field by quickly integrating classics into our lessons.

Giving a definition just doesn’t cut it! Use the Frayer Model to explain (and assess!) vocabulary.

A collection of helpful tips about differentiating through pre-assessment.

How to memorize the countries in Africa, the Japanese writing system, or a deck of cards.

When should teachers take the time to build an advanced version of something? And when should they just let students move along?

Lisa explains how Log Cabin Living changed her classroom environment. Sort of.

Many “hands-on” activities limit students by stopping at a low level of thinking. Here’s how to fix it.