Teaching for Triumph: Reflections of a 21st-Century ELL Teacher
Justin Minkel teaches 2nd and 3rd grade at Jones Elementary in Springdale, Ark., a high-performing, high-poverty school where 85 percent of the students are English-language learners. A former Teach For America corps member, Minkel was the 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year. In his instruction, he is focused on bringing advanced learning opportunities to immigrant and at-risk students. Follow him at @JustinMinkel. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
Perfecting Parachutes for Thrill-Seeking Gummy Bears: Engineering Design Challenges in the Elementary Classroom
Engineering design challenges prepare our students for real-life projects where there are thousands of "right answers" and temporary failure is a step toward success.
Education
Opinion
Is Common Core the Enemy of Autonomy?
National coherence often brings national strength, whether you're building a military or an educational system. But will Common Core's coherence cost teachers our autonomy?
Education
Opinion
New Year's Teaching Resolutions 2014
My top five teaching resolutions for 2014, including why more men should teach pre-K and why using war metaphors to describe teaching is offensive to both professions.
Education
Opinion
3rd Grade Innovators Go Broke, Get Rich, and Keep Trying
Corporate espionage, loan sharks, and obscene profit margins. My 3rd graders' economics unit taught them the things that are hardest and most exciting to teach: ingenuity, collaboration, and the meaning of "productive failure."
Education
Opinion
Lions, Tigers, and Mating Polar Bears, Oh My! 2nd Grade Researchers Writing to Read
Kids understand what they create. When our students write informational text, they get better at reading it, too.
Education
Opinion
Peace Talks
Survey human history or take a look at the nearest playground, and you see a common theme: conflict. My students' conflicts took a tremendous toll on their ability to learn. A simple process called a Peace Talk changed everything.
Education
Opinion
Video Games, Menus, and "What do you want to do?": Student Choice in Math
Spend five minutes watching a child play a video game, and you'll see proof that kids crave challenge. I see this play out every day in math class.
Education
Opinion
Memory, Experience, and Imagination: Student Choice in Writer's Workshop
There's a metaphor in Zen Buddhism of a traveler walking in a light mist. She doesn't even realize she's getting wet, but suddenly she's soaked. That's the kind of impact Writer's Workshop has on young writers.
Education
Opinion
Our Choices Determine Our Destiny
If teachers make all the decisions, we rob kids of the intrinsic pleasure of making a choice. We also steal the learning that comes with considering thousands of possibilities, committing to one, then finding out where that choice takes you.
Education
Opinion
'To Triumph in This Country'
Marco moved from Cuba to Houston two days before summer school started. I asked the 7th graders to write about their goals for the summer program, expecting general statements about getting better at math or reading. Instead Marco wrote one line: "Yo quiero triunfar en este país." ("I want to triumph in this country.")