by admin | Nov 20, 2014 | Blog
When someone asks me why the arts are important to learning, I usually respond by describing my own experience in using the arts to excite learners. One such experience follows. Here is the scene: A narrow, windowless room in an urban middle school, with twelve desks...
by aperkins | Mar 18, 2014 | Blog
The Common Core State Standards challenges us, as English Language Arts teachers, to shift the way instruction looks and sounds in the ELA classroom. One of those shifts is the attention to the staircase of complexity. We know that for students to be ready for the...
by admin | Mar 14, 2014 | Blog
The online bios of CTL staff members feature quotes that reflect each person’s passion or special interest within education. For Educational Programs Specialist Ashley Perkins, the quote actually includes the word “passion”: “Adolescent...
by admin | Mar 5, 2014 | Blog
In the previously published blog titled, Teaching Critical Vocabulary, I outlined a simple way of thinking about changing the way teachers traditionally approach vocabulary instruction in all content areas, starting with careful selection of words with which students...
by aperkins | Nov 26, 2013 | Blog
Guest Blogger Stella Baker is an English Language Arts teacher at Owsley County Middle School. She has been teaching in Kentucky schools for 29 years. Over that period of time she has taught a variety of subjects and grade levels, but has always returned to middle...
