Rethinking Grammar Instruction to Keep Students Interested

Rethinking Grammar Instruction to Keep Students Interested

As an elementary school student of the early 1990s, I grew up accustomed to worksheets as a form of instruction and assessment. Years ago, when I began my first year of teaching, I fell into this trend, too. For grammar and mechanics skills in particular, I relied on...
Improving Professional Development Programs for Teachers

Improving Professional Development Programs for Teachers

You’ve been in that conference room, right? You can hear the buzz of the fluorescent lights… smell the coffee going stale… hear the click of the presenter’s laptop as they scroll to Slide 57 of 70. Mention “Professional Development”...
Current Trends in Instructional Design for Content Development

Current Trends in Instructional Design for Content Development

Today we are going to take a look at some current trends in instructional design that have been accelerating in recent years. As a starting point, the ability of learners to access information when it is needed, using browser-based resources, is driving many of the...
Technology Enhanced Items in Assessment: Using Hints

Technology Enhanced Items in Assessment: Using Hints

The use of technology-enhanced items (TEIs) in assessment has gained immense popularity in recent years due to the numerous advantages these item types offer. Through the use of these interactive questions, student engagement is increased substantially, especially in...
Slowing Down a Fast-Moving World to Attend to Precision

Slowing Down a Fast-Moving World to Attend to Precision

In our series on the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice (CCSSMP), we’ve reached number six: Attend to precision. For students who communicate instantaneously by thumb-typing emojis, doing a task slowly and attending to detail can be maddening;...