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Sarah Cooper

Reflecting & Storytelling About Teaching

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Author: Sarah Cooper

@sarahjcooper01 sarahjcooper.com

“A Social Studies Podcast Project for Right Now,” MiddleWeb

April 19, 2020December 14, 2020 Sarah Cooper

Rarely has it been so clear that a unit needs to be scrapped and started over from scratch. In my eighth-grade U.S. history and civics class, which has a lot of curricular flexibility, we focus on… Continue reading

Posted in Civics, Research

“What I Miss About My Middle Schoolers,” MiddleWeb

April 8, 2020May 31, 2020 Sarah Cooper

Teaching via Zoom at my kitchen counter, laptop perched on coffee table books, is not the top way I would choose to interact with my eighth-grade U.S. history students. However, by the time we reach the end of each period, I find myself reluctant to say goodbye… Continue reading

Posted in Storytelling

“Advice for Teachers Who Want to Write a Book,” Education Week Teacher

April 5, 2020April 19, 2020 Sarah Cooper

Writing a book about teaching is not as hard as it seems. You don’t need an agent, and cold submissions can be very successful. In 2007, I had been teaching for almost a decade, always fascinated by curriculum design… Continue reading

Posted in Storytelling, Writing

“My Love Letter to Trader Joe’s,” Well-Schooled

April 1, 2020April 10, 2020 Sarah Cooper

Now more than ever, Trader Joe’s comforts my soul. And recently, it has also shown me how to be a more empathetic leader, to remember the humanity around us. But first, some history. For the past dozen years — as I’ve taught middle school, steeped myself in faculty administration, and mothered two boys — Trader Joe’s has been there for me… Continue reading

Posted in Storytelling

“The Do’s & Don’ts of a Quick Shift to Remote Learning,” Education Week Teacher

March 25, 2020March 29, 2020 Sarah Cooper

Here’s how my second meeting with one class started last week, when three students opened up a chat on Google Meet:

1:16 PM

can i go to the bathroom

1:16 PM

we didn’t have to turn in a current event today right… Continue reading

Posted in Civics

“What Students Can Learn by Writing to Politicians,” MiddleWeb

February 10, 2020March 23, 2020 Sarah Cooper

Writing a letter to a politician is about as “civic” an assignment as we can do within our classroom walls, and it feels especially relevant in our polarized political climate. For the first two years that my U.S. history and civics students wrote these letters, though, I didn’t quite… Continue reading

Posted in Civics, Writing

“The Starless Sea” by Erin Morgenstern, Bookclique

February 5, 2020March 23, 2020 Sarah Cooper

It has been decades since I’ve wanted to live in the world of a fantasy novel as much as the one in Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea. Entering the caverns of a vast secret underground library – one accessed through doors in our world both hidden and in plain sight – made me feel as if… Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Storytelling

“Seven Ways to Bring Current Events Into the Classroom,” Education Week Teacher

January 26, 2020March 23, 2020 Sarah Cooper

We can link current events to what we teach in the classroom in at least two ways—through content and through character. With content, teachers sometimes wonder how they can justify adding current events to their lessons… Continue reading

Posted in Civics

“Remembering What Matters With Elie Wiesel,” Well-Schooled

December 9, 2019June 17, 2020 Sarah Cooper

For the past 18 years, I’ve taught at secular schools with their own rich sets of values. But Ariel Burger’s Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom brought back memories from my early teaching and, in the process, helped me with two teaching conundrums… Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Social Justice, Storytelling

“How iCivics Helped Me Refresh the Constitution,” MiddleWeb

December 7, 2019March 23, 2020 Sarah Cooper

In my 8th grade U.S. history and civics class, which I’ve taught for seven years, our unit on the Constitution has always challenged me because it raises so many questions about curriculum planning… Continue reading

Posted in Civics

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