Peggy's blog

The year leading up to a presidential election is full of political advertisements and media coverage of political scandals. Students who are not familiar with specific propaganda techniques may form opinions on political issues and candidates without fully understanding the truth behind the advertisements. An informed citizen is able to think critically about things they see in the media to separate fact from fiction. This skill needs to be taught in the classroom. The saturation of politics and political advertisements in the media will make this coming year an ideal time to study political campaigns and advertising propaganda.

“Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.”

– Henry Wheeler Shaw

In order for students to excel on standardized tests, most of their learning must focus on core subjects. Teachers are often most comfortable teaching in these areas, anyway, since they are the focus of most teachers’ formal training. Success in core subjects ultimately brings funding to schools.

Creating activities and units that effectively place students “in the shoes” of key characters in the past is what sets the best history teachers apart from the good history teachers.  Most people can describe events from the past to their students.  Many of them can even explain these events in a way that is meaningful and memorable.  Some teachers take it to the next level by introducing primary sources to their students, allowing them to see artifacts of the actual events so they can form a connection to the material they are learning.  The best teachers strive to create a bond between their students and the characters they are studying.

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”
John Dewey

I have written about this quote before, and I love how it reminds me that teaching is a dynamic career.  Teaching is not something you “get good at” so you can coast through the years.  Excellent teachers are always learning and constantly adapting the tools and techniques they use with their students.  As the world changes and technology evolves, these teachers embrace these changes and bring new tools and techniques into the classroom.

The plants around us provide a perfect hands-on biologyclassroom for students of all ages.  Fromplanting that first bean in a paper cup to conducting more involved andcomplicated high-school biology experiments, studying plants can be aneffective, concrete, fun, and low-cost way for students to explore the livingworld. 

You probably remember exactly where you were and what you were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001.  On that day, history gained a new day of infamy that will be a part of American History classes from now on.  Although this piece of contemporary history is seared in their parents’ minds, it might be just another story for many students who are too young to remember the events themselves. In remembrance of the tenth anniversary of this tragedy, many teachers are planning to cover the events and the aftermath in some way.  Teachers have a chance to use this awful event to continue the learning for future generations.

I remember the commotion started by Teen Talk Barbie when she announced, “Math class is tough!” in the early nineties.  After only a few months, the phrase was taken out of the dolls’ vocabularies and Mattel swapped out the dolls that still said the phrase.

Eating disorders and body image issues can be life changing for students during the adolescent years. They are, at the very least, a distraction from learning and can escalate quickly into a major problem for your students. Seeing these types of issues in the school setting, has reminded me how important it is to include life skills in my teaching. We are in the business of teaching our students how to be healthy and successful as much as we are in the business of teaching them the specifics of our particular subject areas.