Looking Ahead to the 14-15 School Year

Here are some practical ideas for setting up your classroom that can make a big difference:
20 Things You Can Do for a Smoother Running Classroom.

Explore Education Blogs

Interested in exploring education blogs this summer?  There are LOTS!  ONE way to find the blogs that suit you is to visit the the Teach 100 Daily Ranking of Education Blogs.  
At this site you can also submit your own blog to be considered for the Teach 100 list.

Writing Grades 6-8: Units of Study in Argument, Information, and Narrative

Samplers of newly released units of study 

in argument, information and narrative writing, 

from Lucy Calkins and the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP)

can be downloaded for free HERE.

Strategies for Lesson Closure

How a lesson ends really affects what the learner takes away.  Check out this post: Lesson Closure: Stick the Landing for some practical lesson closure strategies.

Focused Formative Assessment

A helpful and practical post on Focused Formative Assessment that I found in the May 31 issue of CVU Learns.

Reframing Curriculum

...for the future, (and perhaps also for next year).
How might THESE SHIFTS change the way teachers design units of study, and change the way students experience those units?!

To Have Lost Maxine Greene and Maya Angelou in the same week...

How blessed we were by their insight!

Maxine Greene taught us so much about curriculum: about the role of the arts in enabling humans to imagine a world characterized by social justice.  See this post: Maxine Greene: The Importance of Personal Reflection for a glimpse of her gifts.

Maya Angelou's passing has led me to read and re-read a variety of her writings, and they have helped renew my courage and resolve.  I so love this very brief video clip from her keynote at the 2013 ASCD conference.