I haven’t always worked in the field of professional development. Before I got started, I was a teacher and I still think of myself, first and foremost, as a teacher. I’m very lucky that I now have the opportunity to work with other teachers because, by supporting them and helping them to maximize instructional opportunities, I’m able to touch the lives of more students than I ever imagined possible. I began my career as a bilingual elementary school teacher in San Antonio, Texas, and after several years, I moved to Lewisville, Texas. I began to work with the staff at my...
Read More Post a comment (0)Like people around the world, we’ve been shocked and saddened by the news coming from Japan in the past weeks. The earthquake and resulting tsunami have wreaked unimaginable havoc on Northern Japan, and we extend our sympathies to all those who have lost friends and loved ones in the wake of this terrible disaster. Though it may be possible to shield younger children from painful stories, images, and current events like those in Japan, older children will inevitably start to ask questions about what they see on television, in the newspaper, and perhaps on the Internet. It can be difficult to...
Read More Post a comment (0)The experience of reading a book is exactly that – an experience. It evokes different feelings when read privately than when read aloud, when discussed in a book club, or when seen in movie form. Inevitably, the reader takes away something different when it’s oral vs. visual or individual vs. group. The reader’s mind is challenged in different ways as the characters may look different, sound different, and be interpreted differently. At Benchmark Education, we have found that Reader’s Theater is a very successful model for teaching literacy in an oral group setting. By definition, Reader's Theater is the reading of...
Read More Post a comment (0)Welcome to the inaugural post of Benchmark Education’s blog! We were inspired to develop this blog in order to reflect (and occasionally debate) the most pressing challenges in literacy today. Our hope is that this blog will reflect the richness and diversity of the conversations we have around the water cooler at Benchmark Education and in your classrooms. As background, in developing our products, we encounter many different kinds of students: gifted, on-level, and struggling learners; those with learning disabilities; and those still mastering English as a second language. All of these students (as well as the teachers and parents who support...
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