Victoria Clayton

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Listening skills are a key subject for Sanger USD elementary and high school students. who use ed tech to building listening literacy.

5 reasons to boost listening literacy in schools

Why lessons in listening are now being incorporated into reading instruction—and how listening comprehension can be taught.

Successful alternative high school programs offer opportunities for learning outside the traditional classroom environment. Here, students at John R. Wooden High School in Los Angeles USD participate in activities on a small teaching farm.

Curriculum & Instruction

How alternative high schools restore students’ hope

District leaders realize that when it comes to getting alternative program students to graduation, the name of the game is support, not punishment.

Many K-12 educators are adding books with more diverse characters and content to school and classroom libraries. (gettyimages.com: annasivak)

Curriculum & Instruction

Teaching phonics builds balanced literacy

You’ve heard the phrase “reading wars”—the so-called battle between phonics and whole language instruction—but you might not know it’s exaggerated.

Uncategorized

Overblown reading wars hide real literacy gap

American learners have a persistent reading problem, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Only 35% of students tested read at or above proficient levels. Yet a closer look […]

Literacy/ELL

On the literacy horizon: Morphology

You will hear this word a lot in future literacy discussions: morphology, or the meaning of words. In a nutshell, the English spelling system is designed to represent both the […]

STEM

STEM education myths in early grades

Consider these ideas: Some kids are STEM kids and some aren’t. Students need to master science and math basics before moving on to STEM. STEM focuses on jobs, so it should be concentrated in middle and high school. Wrong, wrong and wrong.

Educators can build STEM into everyday instruction by putting a makerspace in every classroom.

Uncategorized

6 ways to add STEM every day

Some steps all educators can take to incorporate STEM into everyday instruction: Consider putting a makerspace in every classroom. Many schools have separate makerspaces. Other educators create moveable carts filled […]

SPECIAL EDUCATION SUCCESS—A student (right) from Cleveland County Schools works with an employee at a fabric company. The North Carolina district’s Future Ready Occupational Course of Study program prepares special needs students for life after high school, with access to on-the-job experiences and related training in soft and hard skills.

College and career readiness

Moving forward with college and careers in special education

Transition planning for special education students has evolved so that the activities students participate in now mirror more closely mainstream college- and career-prep programs.

Uncategorized

Organizations offer PD for special ed transition planning

Many teachers—even seasoned special education teachers—haven’t studied transition planning through university coursework or through other professional development.