I spent this first week of school on a myriad of community building exercises in my Constitutional Law/Government class~ Journalism~ and World Literature classes at Williamsburg Christian Academy. My affective goal was simple: develop talent and advance community!
I am fortunate enough to work in an environment were the affective goals are encouraged as part of our motto-"teaching them to fly."After our usual parade of "warm-ups"~ "speak-ups"~ and "get-ups"~ I...

In a recent staff development that I conducted at Williamsburg Christian Academy~ Williamsburg~ Virginia~ we explored the power of Socratic Seminars to engage teachers in conversation about the following:
1. Use of higher order questioning in every class: Bloom's and William's Taxonomies
2. The power of rich texts in all content areas: The Great Books and Primary Resources
3. The essentials of student directed classrooms in high school: Flipped Classrooms~ Harkness Tables~...

Time management requires a sharp focus first on yourself then on your work (see my earlier blogs for helpful hints). With your personal world in order~ it is time to look at classroom routines or protocols. I prefer to call my classroom "rules" protocols for how we work in a learning community.
My high school classroom protocols are clear and I spend the first day of school helping students understand why protocols work. First~ using...

The job of a substitute teacher is not an easy one. Subs have to be prepared to teach any subject in any classroom~ and to top it all off~ they have to learn loads of new names each time that they cover for a classroom teacher.

Especially in one's early days of serving as a sub~ bad days can happen. Kids can be unruly and disrespectful. Instructions left by the classroom teacher can be unclear. The school's routines can be confusing.

If these scenarios sound familiar~ we want...