Online exit slips are an effective way to get feedback from students, do checks for understanding and even accept suggestions or constructive criticism.

When I became a New York City public school teacher three years ago, I was shocked to discover our high school didn’t have a newspaper. So this past January, I turned my 11th-grade ELA class into the school’s newsroom.

New York City’s teacher leadership program is being hailed as an international model for its ability to retain, motivate and encourage collaboration among teachers.

Do you want to help your students explore their interests and extend their learning beyond a scripted curriculum? Consider trying inquiry-based investigations in your early childhood classroom.

As technology has developed, so have methods for using technology to learn a language. These programs aren’t meant as a replacement for in-class language instruction, but they can be effective supports to extend and continue learning both in and out of the classroom.

In my 3rd-grade classroom, my students use thinking maps — which are not graphic organizers! — to represent their ideas. Each type of thinking map connects a basic cognitive skill with a visual representation.


To help my students grow as writers and community members, I teach the art of letter writing to my 2nd-graders.

“Every student should have access to the library and the opportunity to go there,” says says Michael Dodes, a school librarian who now works as a library operations and instructional coordinator in the DOE’s Office of Library Services. “It’s all about creating a space where students can read, explore information and work with each other.”

Life in a classroom can be chaotic, stressful and unpredictable. I try to set up clear expectations for my pre-K students about how to handle stressful moments.

Measure how Alaska’s glaciers have receded. See how a New York City block has changed since 1930. Trace Marco Polo’s journey through Asia. Google Earth is a powerful online tool that enables you to integrate mapping into nearly every subject you teach.