Category Archives: Teaching

“Summer slide” and engaging summer school programs

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Abner Oakes

There was a great piece in a recent Education Week that shared some of the work happening ‘cross the country to ensure that kids don’t suffer from “summer slide,” particularly, as the article stated, “underprivileged students who lack opportunities for … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom, Federal policy, School, School district, Teaching | Tagged education week, pittsburgh public schools, project-based learning, rand, summer dreamers academy, summer school, summer slide, washington township schools | 1 Comment

The lure of programs

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Abner Oakes

I heard a principal talk the other evening about installing a new program at her school, Project ACHIEVE’s Stop and Think, a social skills program. My ears perked up. Generally, I’m suspicious about programs and their effectiveness. So much is … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom, Principal, School, Teachers, Teaching | Tagged foss science, project achieve, saxon, stop and think, zaner-bloser | Leave a comment

“Look fors” in effective classrooms

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Abner Oakes

A friend (and parent) and I got talking about this the other evening: Imagine you’re moving to a new state, a new city, but before you decide on a neighborhood and therefore a school for your kids, you want some … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom, Parents, School, Teachers, Teaching | Tagged classroom library, daily agenda, differentiated instruction, differentiation, effective questioning, flipped classroom, lesson plan, mimeograph machine, Northeast Regional Resource Center, principal, rubric, school culture, state standards, wested, word wall | Leave a comment

Teaching film with high school students

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Abner Oakes

My son and I watched High Noon last weekend, our second time, and there’s so much packed into that short film: the great performances and characters, the camera work, its message on McCarthyism. He and I always have a lot … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom, Teachers, Teaching | Tagged alex o'flinn, alfred hitchcock, barton fink, casablanca, celine and julie go boating, david thomson, eraserhead, high noon, jaws, Manohla Gargis, psycho, red river, shoot the moon, teaching film, tommy, ty burr | 2 Comments

The flipped classroom

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Abner Oakes

Back in November, I wrote in this post about the use of technology in elementary schools – or the lack of use – and this video, while about high school, has got me thinking again about technology and its effective … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom, School, School district, Teachers, Teaching | Tagged camtasia, dead poets society, flipped classroom, innovation zone, izone, learning point associates, robin williams, school of one, science leadership academy, technology, unbundled education, university of northern colorado | 1 Comment

Higher level thinking in high school Spanish

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Abner Oakes

I got a great long note from my former student Maija Langeland Scarpaci, who taught high school Spanish for several years. Let me just move aside and let her do the talking: During my last teaching job, I taught the … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom, School, Teachers, Teaching | Tagged advanced placement, bloom's taxonomy, boston college, cervantes, dario, effective questioning, garcia marquez, iep, spanish | Leave a comment