by John McCarthy | Jun 24, 2014 | PBL, strategies
Day one at PBL World, the educators I’m working with explored designing Project Based Learning units. A major detail, and concern, is identifying a real world audience, and then getting in touch with them. Engineers, mechanics, university professors, authors, or...
by John McCarthy | May 5, 2014 | Differentiated Instruction, strategies, Writing
In the previous two articles, we explored RAFTs (Role, Audience, Format, and Topic + Strong Verb) as an instructional strategy, and how to use RAFTs for coaching writers on writing. RAFTs can ignite engagement and context for learning. Planned with forethought,...
by John McCarthy | Apr 14, 2014 | Assessments, Differentiated Instruction, Formative Assessments, strategies, Writing
During workshops, I sometimes survey the teachers in the room: Rate yourself on a 5 pt scale. A five equals, “I can write for publication with confidence.” A one equals, “I do not like to write, preferring to avoid it when I can.” Yes, I know… rating scales...
by John McCarthy | Apr 7, 2014 | strategies, Writing
How do you get students engaged into writing? Sometimes this question feels like an exercise in futility, used as for abstract debate for the sake of venting frustration. But there are times when the answer to this question is simple: Make the writing interesting and...
by John McCarthy | Mar 3, 2014 | Global Skills, resources, strategies
During a PLN twitter #satchat[i] session on a Saturday morning, Charity Stephens[ii], a teacher, shared her use of Tagboard.com with her students. The students studied grammar—different elements of pronoun usage. When Charity introduced hashtags to support the work,...
by John McCarthy | Feb 2, 2014 | strategies, Writing
There comes a time after a lesson when the students are directed to write on a topic. An enlightened teacher will give students choices or let the learners choose their own topic. But often times, there are students, sometimes most, who can’t seem to put pen to...
