Communication is one of the common skills to be developed in students from elementary to post-primary. It is a key element that we teachers need to have in our curricula too. In order for our students to retain knowledge, we need to find ways to align our curriculum… Read More »STEAM – Interdisciplinary possibilities

In class, I usually write the learning intentions on the whiteboard and don’t look at success criteria more than the result of the learning intentions. After watching Con Hurley’s (Sligo Education Center, 2024) presentation on how to Make formative assessment work for me and my students, I gathered… Read More »Co-creating success criteria

Opening up the new STEAM theme to 1st graders, I was asked, “Why are we doing this?” My answer was too quick: “To increase your critical thinking?”. Question back: “What is critical thinking?”. Pam pam! My mistake was evident. Too much, too soon? Or is it? I had… Read More »Teaching 1st years big concepts

So far, I experienced different ranges of quality teaching experiences as a PME student teacher. Some felt very low in terms of classroom management and fighting with post-traumatic stress, and some felt extremely high, reaching the rockstar teacher level where everything and more worked like a dream. These… Read More »My best pedagogical experience

When planning for units of learning, I find that finding a relevant theme and the disciplines that form it gives you the best start in planning and preparation. For a class that I would know for the first time, I would start with nature themes. This way, I… Read More »Relevant themes

I have two EAL students, Romanian and Spanish, in different classes. Out of class, the two students became friends, and they are communicating in Spanish. In class, they are both in the “silent” phase, where they are paying attention; they understand and are appropriate, but can’t express themselves.… Read More »EAL strategies

Two of the key skills of teaching are effective questioning and feedback strategies, but the way a teacher interrelates them, using questioning as feedback or feedback through questioning, prompts students into thinking and increases their metacognition skills, or how to think for themselves. Questioning through discussion and dialogue… Read More »Effective Questioning