Reflecting & Storytelling About Teaching
Sarah Cooper agreed to answer a few questions about her book, Creating Citizens: Teaching Civics and Current Events In The History Classroom. “You write about teaching history as a chronology versus teaching it thematically. Can you elaborate on both, and why you choose a thematic focus?”… Continue reading…
The person I always return to is my mother, Jane Schaffer. She taught high school English and was a teacher of teachers. I’ve written before about the help she gave me during my first years in the classroom. My mom reminded me… Continue reading
A recent one-day professional growth workshop epitomized what I hope students will take away from my classes: a sense that their well-informed communication can change the world. The event, Poetic Convergence, was on a Saturday, and it took more than an hour… Continue reading
When my school has gathered data from our students through the High School Survey of Student Engagement and Middle Grades Survey of Student Engagement, a few favorite kinds of activities appear over and over again… Continue reading
This week it has been even more of a pleasure than usual to spend time with eighth graders. They’ve been creating social reform concept maps, an oldie-but-goodie project that I… Continue reading
After reading this book, if you’re not asking your students to do low-stakes daily writing that brings thinking to the forefront, it may be hard to justify to yourself why not. Mary K. Tedrow’s Write Think Learn makes a strong case for… Continue reading
Talking about civics and governing these days, even among friends, can be a challenge. Now think about those tasked to teach about citizenship to a group of students from diverse political backgrounds and beliefs. Sarah Cooper’s Creating Citizens takes on that challenge… Continue reading
Most days, I feel reasonably positive about how my classes have gone, in this my 19th year of teaching. I usually have in mind tweaks or even overhauls for next year’s version of that topic, but rarely do I feel that an entire project has fallen short of my expectations. But last month… Continue reading
Heather Wolpert-Gawron’s Just Ask Us: Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement is one of those books about teaching that you will want to consult again and again. Crucially, everything in the book is based on extensive research… Continue reading
It’s been a hard fall to talk about the news with my students. This is not a new or unique feeling. But it’s even harder than it used to be to find perspective, as I wrote about several years ago in the wake of depressing incidents at home and abroad… Continue reading
Sarah Cooper 