Every lesson plan begins with a beginning.  Unfortunately, in all too many classrooms this beginning sounds something like this:  ”Now class, turn to page 428 of your textbook.” There’s nothing there to grab students (quite the reverse:  many kids will disengage from the class at that point). Every teacher needs to have a kit bag...Read More

Over the past decade there’s been a lot of debate about whether Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is valid as an approach to guide instruction.  I’m going to take up the points of this debate in a future post.  But right now, I want to argue for the most persuasive reason why every teacher...Read More

Activity centers have long been seen as an effective way to have children or teens engage with learning material in a hands-on and experiential way.  However, for many teachers, the construction of such activity centers in the classroom may seem time consuming, require non-existent funds, and/or be just another burden to one’s teaching load.  Here...Read More

Nothing has been more disconcerting to me in my forty-five years as an educator than to ask a parent or teacher:  ”What is your child’s (or teen’s) strengths?” and have them answer:  ”He hasn’t got any.”  I’ve actually heard this several times in my career.  It was such responses that motivated me to come up...Read More

I just received in my email box a link to a video made by the kids at Yealey Elementary School, in Florence, Kentucky, reviewing my new children’s book:  Smarts! Everybody’s Got Them. Intended for kids ages 5 to 9, the book presents Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences through pictures and words.  Each of the...Read More