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Tools, strategies, and things worth reading
Writing on AI, literacy, and assessment.
Practical posts for teachers and faculty: tool reviews, classroom strategies, and the occasional strong opinion about how reading gets taught. Search or filter to find what you need.
GenAI Tools for Schools
Generative AI tools built specifically for education are now widely available. A look at what’s out there and how to choose between them.
How to Teach Sight Words
High‑frequency words with irregular spellings are often the hardest part of early reading. But English is far more predictable than it looks, and that changes how we should teach them.
AI Tools to Try Today
A practical roundup of generative AI tools worth opening this week, and what each one is actually good for.
AI Mash‑Up: Using AI to Build Course Content
You can use multiple AI tools to build a full lesson in under fifteen minutes. This one came out of desperation at 4pm.
AI Stoplights
Making course AI policy explicit at the assignment level, and why explaining the reasoning gets more student buy‑in than a blanket rule ever will.
The Faculty Guide to Getting Started With Gen AI
UT Austin and Grammarly built a genuinely useful free guide for faculty. Here’s what’s in it and who it’s for.
Word Connections Morphology Program
A free morphology program for grades 3–5: forty research‑based lessons on morphemes and multisyllabic decoding.
Learning For Justice: Digital Literacy
A free digital literacy framework with lesson plans and PD materials, and how I use it with preservice teachers.
Podcast Review: Sold a Story
A must‑listen for anyone who cares about teaching children to read. Emily Hanford lays out the evidence against cueing.
Book Review: The Knowledge Gap
Natalie Wexler’s book is one of my favorites to share with preservice teachers, and my students say so in course evaluations every term.
Review of Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
An indispensable resource on the science of learning, with strategies that genuinely change teaching practice.
Podcasts: A Tool to Relieve Screen Fatigue
Students are staring at screens more than ever. Audio is an underused way to cut fatigue and raise engagement.
Science Resources, Lesson Plans, and Curriculums
NGSS, Next Gen Storylines, and other free science resources worth knowing about, even if your state doesn’t use NGSS.
Digital Tools and Resources
A working list of classroom digital tools and what each is genuinely good for.
Social Studies Resources, Lesson Plans, and Curriculum
C3 Teachers and other inquiry‑based social studies resources, with hundreds of free lesson plans.
Math Resources, Lesson Plans, and Curriculums
EL Education, EngageNY, and other free K–5 math curricula, with notes on what each does well.
English Language Arts Resources and Curriculums
CKLA, West Virginia Phonics, and other free ELA materials, including where to be choosy.
Scoring and Rubrics
Holistic, analytical, and single‑point rubrics: what each is for and when to reach for which.
Summative Assessments
What summative assessment is for, and how it fits with everything else you collect about student learning.
Formative Assessments
Anecdotal notes, checklists, discussions: the everyday assessment that tells you what to teach next.
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