I have been reading The Unstoppable Writing Teacher by Colleen Cruz. In the first chapter she writes about anticipating and solving problems in the classroom. She suggests "that you celebrate once you find the problem you will attack first." Yes, it's true, problems are opportunities. Wallowing in them doesn't help us. Attacking them, studying them, … Continue reading A Problem Party – #BLOG365 Day 120
Curriculum
Museum Monday: Ephemera in the Classroom -#BLOG365 Day 117 #sschat #objectbasedlearning
I have been on an ephemera kick lately. I guess that happens when you are a teacher at heart and always on the lookout for teaching tools. Or maybe it is because my house is filling up with furniture and I have to start looking for smaller items to satisfy my antiquing addiction. Truthfully, I … Continue reading Museum Monday: Ephemera in the Classroom -#BLOG365 Day 117 #sschat #objectbasedlearning
New Traditions-#BLOG365 Day 113
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and I am creature of habit when it comes to celebrating. I like our traditions. The breakfast casserole, the hiding of the pickle in the Christmas tree, baking cookies for Santa, a movie on Christmas night...the list could go on and on. This Christmas was different. It … Continue reading New Traditions-#BLOG365 Day 113
When Objects Tell the Full Story Together-#BLOG365 Day 112
When I read this article the other day, For the First Time, All 5,000 Objects Found Inside King Tut's Tomb Will Be Displayed Together, it made me wish I was back in the classroom with my sixth graders teaching world history. My students loved our unit on Ancient Egypt and they loved investigating Egyptian objects. A … Continue reading When Objects Tell the Full Story Together-#BLOG365 Day 112
Museum Monday: Student Curators -#BLOG365 Day 106
I've written a lot about student-created exhibitions on my blog. One of the most challenging components of a student-created exhibition is the process of writing labels. It's challenging for museum curators too. Getting the gist of an object or exhibition theme into 50-100 words is difficult. In a school setting label writing integrates literacy and critical … Continue reading Museum Monday: Student Curators -#BLOG365 Day 106
All I Want For Christmas…-#BLOG365 Day 105
When you consider education more of a vocation than a profession you tend to focus many of your waking moments on both the act of teaching and the philosophy behind it. Education really is my life's work and it consumes a lot of my time. Because of that I have a lot of wishes … Continue reading All I Want For Christmas…-#BLOG365 Day 105
Writers Are Readers-#BLOG365 Day 104
Lagging Behind…-#BLOG365 Day 96
Yesterday I was watching Fareed Zakaria, my usual Sunday morning coffee watching. One of the topics of discussion was the recent PISA results in which the United States fell 11 points in math and stayed stagnant in reading and science. In fact, the United States falls below the average on math scores. The results are … Continue reading Lagging Behind…-#BLOG365 Day 96
Do History!-#BLOG365 #sschat Day 91
I spent last week at the National Council for the Social Studies Conference and am still on a high from being with a bunch of proud history nerds. While I was in Washington, D.C. I went to the Florida House and I was talking to our host about Common Core. She was in graduate school for public … Continue reading Do History!-#BLOG365 #sschat Day 91
I Give Up – #BLOG365 Day 77
Ever had one of THOSE days. The kind where nothing seems to go right. That's my today. Hump day of the week before Thanksgiving break. On my 77th day of blogging... My kitten knocked over water laced with red Mio this morning (before 7am). That same kitten decided to crawl into the box of litter … Continue reading I Give Up – #BLOG365 Day 77
Jill Cross 