Grissom & Southside: Working Together

Students Encouraged to Give Back to Their Community Southside Middle School 7th and 8th grade teachers have implemented a collaborative and cross-curricular program to encourage students to contribute to the growth and development of their community and begin life-long habits of philanthropy. Once each month, students from the 7th and 8th grade honors program at […]

A Great Way to Integrate: Language Arts and Social Studies Combined

Two Departmentalized Teachers Integrate Lessons to Help Students Become More Engaged Two departmentalized teachers share how they integrate their subject matter to make lessons meaningful for their students. There are strategies, lessons, and tips on how they easily manage their cross-curricular planning. Challenges or Obstacles: Challenges can occur if you are sharing the subjects mentioned […]

Student Led Conferences

Student Led Parent-Teacher Conferences Increase Student Confidence Student Led Conferences facilitate student articulation of learning, student-engaged assessment through review and reflection, and parent engagement. As parent-teacher conferences transition to parent-teacher-student conferences, students become a part of the conversation and become involved in the process of reflecting on their progress. After parents and students understand that both […]

Student Led Book Clubs

Book Club Allows Students to Take Ownership for Their Reading Book Club was originally created through collaboration with a third grade teacher(me) and fifth grade teacher who were seeking a way to empower students to have meaningful discussions on complex texts that were being read in class.  When Book Club was first created, the whole […]

Growing a STEM program with Rube Goldberg Machines

After School Program Allows Students to Excel in an International Event to Promote the STEM Field The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest originally began as a competition against Purdue engineering organization.  Today, it has grown into an international event that inspires all students to design, build, problem solve, and present.  In recent years, Science, Technology, Engineering, […]

Co-Teaching

Implementation of a Co-teaching Model Enhances Small Group and Individualized Instruction for Students From 2013-2015 the first grade team at Burris Laboratory School implemented a co-teaching model. All first grade students are taught together using differentiated teaching methods. Teachers use whole group, flexible small group, and one-on-one instruction. Groups are identified through the use of […]

Community Inclusion: Bringing a Novel to Life

Using Classic Literature to Inspire Student Success Through Inclusion So many great works of literature connect to universal themes experienced by our students. Students in high school with functional reading levels significantly below their peers need assistance in accessing the literature their peers study in general education high school English classes. Finding time to collaborate […]