HistoryFix: Writing Across the Curriculum...Social Studies and History Resources Writing Across the Curriculum: HistoryFix Northern Nevada's Denise Boswell shares 26 W.A.C. lessons for social studies class Welcome to the HistoryFix Project! Welcome to WritingFix's very first "sister site." HistoryFix became a part of the WritingFix family in 2007 and has been growing ever since. You can check out the NNWP's Fall and Spring inservice schedules on-line. Our W.A.C. workshops' driving essential question: How can we deepen student thinking in all content areas through meaningful and authentic writing assignments? Taking our W.A.C. workshop? Meet our NNWP Consultant who inspired this page. I have found the importance of bringing history alive in my classroom by engaging my students through investigation, research, literature, and writing. HistoryFix is a website that shares rich lessons created by Washoe County teachers where Social Studies is taught through mentor texts, primary source documents, and writing. Join our HistoryFix Family!
Great Teachers Don't Teach In a conversation on LinkedIn, one person asked, "What are the characteristics of an effective teacher?" I read quite a few excellent remarks that describe what such a teacher does to be effective. I couldn't help thinking about some of my best teachers. I had an amazing psychology professor in college. My psychology professor was an effective teacher because he provided experiences that created long-term memories. "I appreciate all of the comments that have been made so far. My experience is that good teachers care about students. All of this is good but great teachers engineer learning experiences that maneuver the students into the driver's seat and then the teachers get out of the way. In The Classroom Long past are the times when we teach content just in case a student might need it. A great teacher will keep the students wanting to come to school just to see what interesting things they will explore and discover each day. Taking Action
Using Writing In Mathematic Using Writing In Mathematics This strand provides a developmental model for incorporating writing into a math class. The strand includes specific suggestions for managing journals, developing prompts for writing, and providing students with feedback on their writing. In addition, the site includes two sample lessons for introducing students to important ideas related to writing about their mathematical thinking. Teaching Strategies For Incorporating Writing Into Math Class: Moving From Open-Ended Questions To Math Concepts Starting Out Gently with Affective, Open-Ended Prompts Writing about thinking is challenging. Begin with affective, open-ended questions about students' feelings. Have students write a "mathography"-a paragraph or so in which they describe their feelings about and experiences in math, both in and out of school. Encourage students to keep their pencils moving. Try requiring 20 words per answer, even if they have to copy the same words again to reach 20. 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 1.
7 Tenets of Creative Thinking In school, we learn about geniuses and their ideas, but how did they get those ideas? What are the mental processes, attitudes, work habits, behaviors, and beliefs that enable creative geniuses to view the same things as the rest of us, yet see something different? The following are seven principles that I've learned during my lifetime of work in the field of creative thinking -- things that I wish I'd been taught as a student. 1. You Are Creative Artists are not special, but each of us is a special kind of artist who enters the world as a creative and spontaneous thinker. 2. You must show passion and the determination to immerse yourself in the process of developing new and different ideas. 3. When producing ideas, you replenish neurotransmitters linked to genes that are being turned on and off in response to challenges. 4. Your brain is a dynamic system that evolves patterns of activity, rather than simply processing them like a computer. 5. 6. 7.
Writing in Mathematics Featured Topic: Writing in Math Class Teachers incorporate writing in math class to help students reflect on their learning, deepen their understanding of important concepts by explaining and providing examples of those concepts, and make important connections to real-life applications of the math they are learning. Teachers use the writing assignments to assess student understanding of important concepts, student proficiency in explaining and using those concepts and each student's attitude toward learning mathematics. Writing in mathematics is a win-win for both teacher and student. Although it may be difficult to introduce this practice, it is well worth the effort. Getting Started with Math Writing Often students who have difficulty writing in math class have less difficulty telling the teacher what they think. Think-Pair-Share: Some students are reluctant to write at first and benefit from practice sharing thoughts with a partner and hearing that partner put thoughts into words.
Five-Minute Film Festival: 8 Interactive Video Tools for Engaging Learners It's no secret that I am a passionate advocate for using video in the classroom. When used well, videos can help students make connections to people and ideas beyond their usual frame of reference. That's why I've been really excited to see a wave of new (and mostly free or low-cost!) Video Playlist: Tools to Enhance Videos for Learning You may notice my playlist below looks a little different this time; I'm embedding using a great tool called Huzzaz, reviewed below. Zaption - Interactive Video for Learning (01:37) With Zaption, transform your students from passive watchers to active learners by adding links, multiple-choice questions, polls, discussions, and more to any video to create a "tour" -- or group a few together for a more complex lesson. More Resources on Using Video in the Classroom Reviews and Guides for Interactive Video Tools Sources and Ideas for Using Videos in the Classroom
Secrets of Teaching Writing Revealed Write or Die 2 The Graphic Classroom 40 Things to Do with a Text | Teacher Training Unplugged This article was written by Dominic Braham and Anthony Gaughan and originally appeared in English Teaching Matters, the English Language Teachers’ Associations journal. Before we get started…Wait a moment.Before you go ahead and read this article, grab a pen, a piece of paper and a clock or watch.Give yourself 5 minutes and write down all the possible things you could get students to do with a business English-suited text. Don’t edit your thoughts according to what you usually do or what you think would “work”: just let the ideas flow…OK, pens down, time’s up. How many ideas do you have on your list? Most of the following list of ideas for text exploitation was brainstormed in not much more than five minutes while we were planning sessions to form part of our Certificate in Teaching English for Business (CertTEB) course in Berlin. The ideas are presented in the order they came to us, so there is a kind of logic to the list but it certainly isn’t in order of effectiveness. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Ten Takeaway Tips for Teaching Critical Thinking Suggestions from educators at KIPP King Collegiate High School on how to help develop and assess critical-thinking skills in your students. Ideally, teaching kids how to think critically becomes an integral part of your approach, no matter what subject you teach. But if you're just getting started, here are some concrete ways you can begin leveraging your students' critical-thinking skills in the classroom and beyond. 1. Questioning is at the heart of critical thinking, so you want to create an environment where intellectual curiosity is fostered and questions are encouraged. In the beginning stages, you may be doing most of the asking to show your students the types of questions that will lead to higher-level thinking and understanding. 2. Pose a provocative question to build an argument around and help your students break it down. 3. 4. "It all comes back to modeling," says Kellan McNulty, who teaches AP world history and AP U.S. history at KIPP King Collegiate. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
flashmobELT Believe it or not! A speaking activity I've used with adult learners to practise making questions in the past simple but I guess it could be adapted for any tenses really. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Like I said, this works better with older students as they've had more life experiences so it's difficult to tell if they are telling the truth or not. A page of questions ready to print can be found on my blog but it really doesn't take a lot to write your own if the ones I use are unsuitable for your group. Enjoy. :) Aidan @leedsacademy www.teacherfacilitatorlearnerfriend.wordpress.com