Articles

In my kindergarten classroom, there are two teachers: Pat Douglass and myself. We combined our classes two years ago by opening up the wall between our classrooms and merging them into one. Now we teach thirty-three students—the equivalent of two full classes—together, all day, every day. Co-teaching with another kindergarten…

Everyone knows that coaching is a key to top performance and excellence in athletics, so why don't we apply the same idea more widely to teaching? In "Personal Best," a recent article about coaching in The New Yorker, Atul Gawande reflects on this question and others as he considers the…

Heather Anderson remembers the year she decided to go to art with her second grade class as “magical.” As she worked on art projects alongside her students, she saw children who struggled academically “shining in these different ways,” and she learned art techniques that she brought back to the classroom.…

Just about every teacher needs to be away from the classroom at some point during the year. Whether you're away for a half day, a day, or several days, you'll want to make sure that the time goes smoothly for your students and for the substitute or "guest teacher." Some…

It's Morning Meeting time in Angie Morrison’s second grade classroom. As they do each morning, Angie and the children gather in a circle to greet each other and begin their day together. A comforting sense of routine settles over the group. But something’s different this morning, too: Seated quietly outside…

After you’ve been teaching for even a little while, you’ll probably find yourself in this situation: You’ll be attending a reading workshop tomorrow. Today, you talk with your students about how they need to act and work so that they will have a successful day in your absence. You write…

"Good morning, friendly learners. Today we have a visitor joining us for Morning Meeting!” This is an announcement that students hear frequently when they begin their Morning Meeting at School 14. Every morning at 8:30 am, as part of their 90-minute literacy block, each class holds a Morning Meeting. The…