While the summer sun shines and my students are on break, I’m going lurk in local coffee shops and write another ebook to help you fight the Common Core freakout and pursue the long-term flourishing of your students. Before I go all-in on a book idea, however, I want your feedback on what to create. […]
PVLEGS: A Public Speaking Acronym that Transforms Students
Before I start lathering at the mouth about PVLEGS, let me just state plainly that this acronym for effective speaking was developed by Erik Palmer, a professional speaker/edu-consultant/former-teacher and the author of Well Spoken, Digitally Speaking, and Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking. To my knowledge, Erik is doing the. best. work. around teaching kids to […]
Jim Burke’s Common Core Companion series — Here’s Why It’s Awesome
I respect Jim Burke a lot. Here’s why: He’s a prolific author of helpful books for teachers, and, get this: he still teaches; He’s a co-author on the high school edition of They Say/I Say (I partially explain my obsession with this book here, here, and here); In addition to a sharp mind, I sense that […]
Why I Use the Article of the Week in My Elective Classes
(Note from Dave: Heidi Bonnema calls herself a “baby teacher,” but this is more a testament to her humility than it is to her skill level. I’m honored to call her, not just a colleague, but a friend. If you follow Teaching the Core’s article of the week list, you’ll have noticed that, lately, the articles […]
3 Sports Metaphors that Fuel Excellence in My Classroom
Full disclaimer: I’m the kid who got cut from soccer his junior year of high school and hasn’t really played organized sports since. And even though I’ve got my alma mater tattooed on my thigh (the picture at right should explain that a bit), I watch, at most, one or two full sporting events per […]