Hello Reader Last week I finished a Natural Hazards unit centered on the 2011 tsunami in Japan. As we wrapped up the unit, new events were unfolding - Hurricane Melissa, flash flooding in NYC, and Typhoon Fung-Wong in the Philippines. Incorporating those natural hazards in class helped students link the science to real-world systems and decision-making, including where responses were both effective and where they fell short. When natural hazards are in the news, consider the following as you...

Hello Reader, In my very first year of teaching, I did exactly what I thought I was “supposed” to do. I stood at the front of the room and lectured students on the rules. It was boring for them, boring for me, and ended up being my worst year for classroom management. Since then, I’ve learned a better way: creating classroom norms with students. In my new blog post, I share: Why collaborative classroom norms actually work How to guide students through the process step by step A ready-to-use...

Hey Reader , As a born-and-raised New Yorker now living in the South, I’m still not used to how early school starts here. My husband headed back for pre-planning last week. Yesterday was my daughter’s open house. And here I am thinking, but there’s a whole month of summer left! 🙃 That might have been true when I taught in Brooklyn, but here in the metro ATL ’burbs, the kiddos are heading back - some as early as July 31st. Whether your school year has already begun or you're still soaking up...