As we observe our students in the classroom setting, we look for them to be engaged in learning, not just “busy,” nor “on task.” We want them intellectually active in the target language with challenging content in a real world context. While attending my most recent district professional development day, the following explanation adapted from […]

This month marks the one-year anniversary of High Tech/Low Tech: Ideas for Every Classroom. As we look back through the archives, we notice that there are quite a few ideas involving sticky notes. This is not surprising. After all, sticky notes represent a perfect marriage between high and low tech. The combination of space-age “low-tack pressure-sensitive […]

Recently after a museum field trip, an ever resourceful colleague in Spanish was pleasantly surprised when her students reported having greatly enjoyed an activity she had assigned: “sitting still for 30 minutes staring at one painting, to see what new things they’d notice.” Given how accustomed we have become to scrolling quickly through images on […]

What does Close Reading mean? Students who meet the expectations of the standards are able to comprehend complex text closely. They are close readers, delving into texts in order to unearth evidence, construct knowledge, and broaden their understanding of the text and world. As thinkers, such students are able to reason logically and use what […]

I have always found Pablo Neruda’s odes fascinating. How can something so complex be written about one very simple object? My favorites are the odes to foods; maybe because I love to cook or perhaps even better because I love to eat! In this lesson (which cycles through several modes of communication), students will read […]

  “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” Carla Shatz, neuroscientist Do you remember the games you used to play at birthday parties? How it felt to be blindfolded, turned around three times, and pushed gently forward to pin the tail on the donkey? Here are a few spins on another party game you might remember […]