Here are some tips and tricks that we have learned along the way to elicit productive comments from students in the hopes that they recognize their own self worth and try their best in school.
Read More
So, what does it mean to be "argumentative" in the context of education? It's not about being stubborn or confrontational; it's about learning how to make a clear and convincing case for your point of view. This involves a range of skills, including critical thinking, research, organization, and communication.
Read More
Are you using any of these outdated grading practices?
Read More
In middle school, students are at a critical stage in their linguistic development, and syntactic awareness should be a primary focus in language arts instruction. In this blog post, we'll explore what syntactic awareness is, why it's important, and how to teach it in middle school.
Read More
Student engagement. It's a term that's been thrown around a lot in the last decade, but let’s really breakdown what student engagement actually is. And more importantly, how can we move beyond the illusion of engagement to foster deeper thinking and learning?
Read More
As technology continues to advance, teachers have been able to incorporate new tools and resources into their classrooms to enhance student learning. One such tool is Chat GPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI. Chat GPT can be used in a variety of ways to help teachers and students engage in meaningful and interactive conversations.
Read More
Today, we're going to talk about a concept that might make you feel like you're in Hollywood - storyboard your curriculum! According to Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Allison Zmuda, two leading experts in the field of education, storyboarding your curriculum can be a great way to engage your students and ensure that they're actually learning something.
Read More
Ah, the attention signal. It is a teacher’s go to classroom management tool to garner the classroom’s attention or the bane of said teacher’s existence. Here at The Teaching Distillery we are big fans of attention signals, also known as the Call and Response technique. While our attention signals vary, the method and strategies we employ are the same.
Read More
It is that time of year again! The time we open up our brand new teacher plan book from ban.do and begin to prepare for the up and coming school year. Aside from prepping our planners with all the fun stickers and noting all of the important dates and days off throughout the school year, we also take time for one more very important step.
Read More
This is an activity that we at TTD used for years in our classroom. The students LOVE it and it adds such beauty and color into an otherwise blank classroom. Below are step by step directions on how you can make one amazing activity that will brighten up your classroom with color, and make your class a place that every student feels welcome and connected.
Read More
The first few weeks of school can be a whirlwind of activity. You’re busy setting up procedures, going over class rules and expectations, and getting to know your students. One tried and true activity that we have had a lot of success with is what we call the Name Plate. Below are step by step directions on how you can make one amazing activity that will brighten up your classroom with color, and make your class a place that every student feels welcome and connected.
Read More