Corroboration, Conflicting Sources, and Competing Narratives by Brooke Feldman Students often ask me, “how do we know what really happened?” As historians, we tackle this sophisticated question by ...

A Fresh Look at Final Exams by Megan Hyland As we begin the month of May, and start to think about the end of the school year (gulp!), it’s hard not to think about the many events that will take pl...

Being an urban charter school principal is hard work.  In my fourth year in the role, I’ve learned that days are unpredictable—sometimes you find yourself fishing clementines out of the boys bathro...

Board Games 2.0: Updating A Popular Project so it Meets Common Core by Brooke Feldman There are just some activities students love. For my students, it’s anything that involves competition, creativ...

Using Graphic Organizers in Math to Increase Independence by Rachel Jacobsen As a special education teacher I am given the challenge to support those with some of the greatest obstacles to learning...

Perseverance and Cultures of Encouragement by Darren Burris As our school continues to plumb the depths of the Common Core and discover new meanings and classroom trajectories for implementation, w...

How Do You Eat an Elephant? Preparing for PARCC Writing, Part 1 by Megan Hyland This year, our students in grades 5-8 will take the PARCC exams in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math.  This a...

3 Ways to Build Students’ Word Consciousness by Abi Frost Most teachers I know have a deep interest in words and academic language.  That’s probably why many of us became teachers— so we could expa...

Two Ways to Support Principals as Instructional Leaders by Jenna Ogundipe The current wave of education reform places the teacher in the spotlight ... But how do we ensure that their instructional ...

Developing Systems to Encourage Reflection, Growth, and Mastery by Michaela Duggan In her recent post, Bridget Adam talked about a tracking system she was implementing. In science we use a similar ...

How Do You Eat an Elephant? Preparing for PARCC Writing, Part 2 by Megan Hyland On November 7, I wrote Part 1 of this blog, which explained the first bite our school took as we began to “Eat an Ele...

Encouraging Student Reflection through Unit Trackers by Bridget Adam As I add years and experience onto my teaching belt, I have become more reflective of my practice.   I challenge myself to try n...

Science is Reality: Seeing 6th Grade as the Foundation by Michaela Duggan These two phrases in the title are posted in the front and back of our 6th grade science classroom and are the basis for my...

Common Core Alignment and Instructional Feedback: A Principal's Role in Implementation by Emily Charton Teachers  have poured copious amount of time, energy, creativity, and innovation into revampi...

Cinematic Reading Frames: On Reading Archaic Primary Sources by Brooke Feldman Many of my students are struggling readers. Not only do many students read below grade level, but the added challenge ...