It All Adds Up

August 01, 2006 Categories: Engaging Academics / Homework
More homework. That’s the response of many school districts feeling increasing pressure to enhance student achievement. It’s a response that can burden not just students, but also parents, who are already short on time and energy to help with homework. Teachers, too, can feel stress related to assigning more homework.
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FEB
01
2006

Is Homework Working?

It's hard for many children to have the right conditions at home for doing homework successfully. Yet teachers often must give homework. What are some things you do about this?
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FEB
01
2006

What Do Insects Do All Day?

Four classes of second graders have just begun a new science unit on insects at the University School of Nashville in Tennessee. I and the other three second-grade teachers have each invited…
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APR
01
2005

Academic Choice

An adapted excerpt from Learning Through Academic Choice, a book by Paula Denton.
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AUG
01
2004

Guided Discovery in Action

The fifth graders and their teacher, Mr. Lomax, sit in a circle. In front of Mr. Lomax is an array of five dictionaries. The largest dictionary has a worn leather cover and…
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AUG
01
2004

Favorite Guided Discoveries

Question: Guided Discovery is a strategy for introducing materials in the classroom. The primary goal is to generate interest and excitement about classroom resources and help children explore their possible uses. “What…
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APR
01
2004

Lively Learning

When I was in elementary school more than fifty years ago, I struggled with geography. I found it very hard to keep all those place names and locations straight. The only thing…
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NOV
01
2003

Homework Blues?

Question: For some children, doing homework is a way to show their growing sense of competence and independence. But for other children, homework is a constant source of frustration and discouragement. How…
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NOV
01
2002

Singing with Children

I remember singing along with friends in my elementary school days. Teachers and students together began each day with singing. We learned about music from our music teacher, but we sang everywhere,…
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FEB
01
2002

Using Computers to Build Community

Imagine this: It’s academic choice time in your classroom and groups of three and four students are clustered around computer workstations. Two groups are planning an Internet-based inquiry project. Another group is…
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NOV
01
2001

Choosing Choice

Several years ago, the school at which I was teaching adopted a new series of teacher’s manuals for reading and spelling and asked that teachers use them to guide their instruction. The…
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OCT
31
2000

Homework!

Ask any teacher, parent, student, or administrator about homework and you're likely to get a different opinion about the quality and quantity at their school: there should be more, there should be…
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