Teaching Profession

Top 10 Teacher Stories of 2011

By Francesca Duffy — December 30, 2011 2 min read
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We hope you’ll indulge us in one more greatest hits list ... (if you don’t read any of the others before winter break ends, at least check this one out!).

Below are Education Week Teacher‘s 10 most-viewed stories of the year—including first-person opinion pieces, articles offering practical classroom tips, and write-ups of the latest research on the teaching profession—ranked by the order of online page views they generated. Happy reading.

1) Can Reading Be Saved?

Readicide author Kelly Gallagher wants schools to stop focusing on tests and let kids immerse themselves in books.

2) Helping Students Motivate Themselves

Teacher-author Larry Ferlazzo offers an alternative to the “carrot and stick” approach to student motivation.

3) Five Questions That Will Improve Your Teaching

Larry Ferlazzo shares the self-reflection questions that help him build relationships with students and maximize classroom management techniques.

4) Teaching Secrets: After the Honeymoon

As the excitement of the start of school fades into routine, Cossondra George says this is a crucial time for teachers to develop positive habits that will help sustain them through the year.

5) Study: Teachers Make Too Much Money

At an education forum in Washington, authors of a study on teacher compensation discussed their surprising conclusion that, counter to popular belief, public school teachers are overpaid.

6) Writing Re-Launched: Teaching with Digital Tools

Innovative language arts teachers are finding that adapting writing instruction to technology can enhance engagement without sacrificing the fundamentals.

7) Teaching History Through Inquiry

Stephen Lazar describes how teachers can impart both critical thinking skills and cultural literacy through the use of historical documents and strategic questioning.

8) High-Tech Teaching in a Low-Tech Classroom
Technology integration expert and high school teacher Jennifer Barnett offers tips on how to support learning and familiarize students with technology when classroom digital tools are limited.

9) Finishing the School Year Strong

Larry Ferlazzo has some tips for keeping students and teachers engaged and energized during the last few weeks of school.

10) What Gifted Students Need From You

Meeting the needs of gifted students—especially those who, like gifted-program participants Mark Zuckerberg and Lady Gaga, may have an independent streak—can be a challenge. But these tips can help.

Once again, thank you to all of our Education Week Teacher readers for visiting the site this year. We hope to hear more of your voices as we continue to bring you teaching tips and the latest teacher-related news in 2012.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teaching Now blog.