Reflecting

Reflecting on the Past: The concept of the “Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive (ICAP) Theory Of Student Cognitive Engagement” is new to me, but it may offer benefits.

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Reflecting on the Past: The concept of the “Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive (ICAP) Theory Of Student Cognitive Engagement” is new to me, but it may offer benefits.

(I’m republishing my best posts from the first half of the year. You can see the entire list of them here)     As regular readers know, I’ve been a long-time advocate and practitioner of “active” learning (see The Best Research Demonstrating That Lectures Are Not The Best Instructional Strategy). Another study has just been … Read more

Reflecting on: The Intriguing Nature of What Defines Interest – Quite Captivating!

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Reflecting on: The Intriguing Nature of What Defines Interest – Quite Captivating!

I was fascinated by a tweet I came across today discussing a fifty-year-old paper that outlined ideas for what makes a theory interesting. The tweet suggested that these ideas could also be used to generate interesting articles, blog posts, and for critical thinking in general. The 12 factors that make a theory interesting, as originally … Read more

Punk Rock Memories Captured in Images: Reflecting on the Second Coming

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Punk Rock Memories Captured in Images: Reflecting on the Second Coming

“ Fans at a Damned gig, London, 1978 These photographs capture the essence of the punk and new wave music scenes in London, New York, and LA, taken by DB Burkeman during the years 1976 to 1982. At that time, Burkeman was a young school dropout grappling with substance abuse issues. Instead of developing the … Read more

Reflecting on the Past: Four Valuable Lessons Learned from Community Organizing Which Have Benefited My Students and Myself Throughout the Years

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Reflecting on the Past: Four Valuable Lessons Learned from Community Organizing Which Have Benefited My Students and Myself Throughout the Years

As a former community organizer with the Industrial Areas Foundation, my experience has greatly influenced my teaching in the classroom. Here are some valuable organizing adages that I have found useful when working with students: 1) “Sometimes the only worse thing than losing a fight is winning one.” This adage reminds me to carefully choose … Read more

Reflecting on the Past: Nine Successful Teaching Strategies for Both Students and Myself in the Current Year – Up to Now

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Reflecting on the Past: Nine Successful Teaching Strategies for Both Students and Myself in the Current Year – Up to Now

I have tried about nine new things this school year, and they have all been successful. While I have made mistakes in the past, this year seems to be going smoothly. I will share new ideas for next year in a future post. Providing a bowl of fruit for students each day has been a … Read more

Reflecting: Enhancing the Sentence Expansion Strategy in My ELL Newcomers Class With a Twist

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Reflecting: Enhancing the Sentence Expansion Strategy in My ELL Newcomers Class With a Twist

In a previous post, I discussed my efforts to accelerate the understanding of basic sentence construction for my ELL Newcomers. I explained how I was using “Sentence Navigators” as a strategy to help them grasp sentence structure more effectively. These navigators are essentially puzzle-like sentence patterning charts that students can use to practice forming sentences. … Read more

Reflecting on the Past: The Contribution of Peer Tutors to ELL Teachers

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Reflecting on the Past: The Contribution of Peer Tutors to ELL Teachers

(I’m republishing my best posts from the first half of the year. You can see the entire list of them here) AdultsOnlyMinecraft / Pixabay I previously posted I FINALLY FOUND AN UNBLOCKED SITE WHERE MY ELL NEWCOMER STUDENTS CAN PLAY VIDEO GAMES AS PART OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE LESSONS!, where I shared about one … Read more

Reflecting on My Latest Student Goal-Setting Strategy – Hoping for Success!

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Reflecting on My Latest Student Goal-Setting Strategy – Hoping for Success!

Students often struggle with setting and achieving goals, and as a teacher, I have tried numerous strategies over the years to help them in this area. Unfortunately, many of these attempts have failed due to the challenge of consistently finding time to prioritize goal-setting through conferences, reviews, and resets. However, this year, I decided to … Read more

Reflecting on the Past: Revisiting Research on How Immigrant Students Benefit Everyone

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Reflecting on the Past: Revisiting Research on How Immigrant Students Benefit Everyone

(I am republishing my top posts from the first half of the year. You can view the full list here)   Two years ago, I wrote a post titled “New Study Finds That The Presence Of Immigrant Students In Schools Helps Everybody, But Totally Misses Obvious Reason.” It discussed a significant study that highlighted a … Read more

Reflecting on the Past: Four Essential Teaching Strategies

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Reflecting on the Past: Four Essential Teaching Strategies

The excellent Diesol Podcast, which is on THE BEST PODCASTS FOR ESL/ELL/ELT TEACHERS list, is organizing a special show to celebrate their 100th show. They’re inviting some teachers to share their one favorite teaching tips. I’ve decided to share four related ones, and they may or may not find room to include all of them. … Read more