Make Your Year End a New Beginning

As this school year wound down, I found myself swamped packing things up. At my school, packing up is pretty… Read more Make Your Year End a New Beginning

No Tech Day

This year I decided to really challenge myself and my students during our school’s Earth Week activities. I decided to… Read more No Tech Day

A few years ago I had the honor of delivering the keynote address at the CMS high school Career Day… Read more What John and John Taught Me

At the risk of being harshly judged by my colleagues – I fully admit that today I am showing a… Read more Movies in the Classroom – 5 Suggestions

First, coming up with punny headlines is tougher than you think. Next, I want to share an assessment tool I… Read more Plickers is very Applickable to Your Classroom

My wife, an elementary ELL teacher, just returned from a conference organized by the Washington Association for Bilingual Education. I… Read more Academic Language – Preparing Your Students for the Pros

Being a substitute teacher is a thankless gig. Seriously, it sucks. Some students ignore or torment you, some of the teachers… Read more Use a Standard Lesson-Plan for Your Substitutes

Whether you’re a newbie or a grizzled old vet, the first days of school can be hectic. Meetings, surprise parent… Read more Plan! Plan! Plan!

My colleague Mike Kaufman and I were sitting around thinking about a better way to introduce ourselves/provide useful info to… Read more Use QR Codes in Teacher Info Posters

When you are first setting up your classroom, it is tempting to fill those blank walls with posters that are… Read more Anchor Charts – Try for Function vs. Fun