This behemoth of a site may seem overwhelming at first, but can provide useful resources for adult educators. The site provides both a very large bank of lesson plans searchable by grade and topic, and a set of Strategic Guides on different teaching approaches (Teaching with Technology, Developing Academic Vocabulary, Reading in the Content Areas, etc.) which are helpful as well. Continue reading A Cornucopia of Reading and Writing Lessons
This is that rarest of things—a high-quality, free, online resource made specifically for adult educators. Although the “Just Write!” Guide is mainly about writing instruction, there is a lot of material here regarding pedagogy in the adult ed classroom in general. What’s satisfying is that it is research-based (the fancy term is “meta-analysis) and that most of us who have worked in adult ed for any length of time will find our own understanding of how to teach adults validated in these pages. Continue reading Just Write!
Sara Van Der Werf is a teacher in Minnesota, who has been teaching middle school and high school students for the past 24 years. She writes about teaching on her highly-recommended blog. For the past three years, Sara has collected photographs of math mistakes taken from everyday life, both from the world around her and from the internet. The mistakes come from stores, signs, newspapers, TV, advertisements, etc.). Continue reading Examine Math Mistakes from Our Everyday Lives
The Change Agent is always a great source of themed student writing, and the current issue (September 2017) on Career Pathways is no exception. Students write in this issue about their own career successes and aspirations, and the editors of the magazine align the writing with great college and career readiness activities and lessons. Continue reading The Change Agent Career Pathways Issue Does the Job Right!
Now more than ever, students need an education in civics. Civics is central to the GED Social Studies, but there are more urgent reasons to teach students about this American democracy. Students need help in voting for their own interests and navigating the confusing new fact of political reporting. As adult education teachers, we may feel that we have to choose between dry, simplistic textbook excerpts and newspaper articles that assume readers have extensive knowledge of U.S. politics. Textbook excerpts often tell only a small part of the story—the part that glorifies U.S. history and the workings of its governments. We all know the reality is less straightforward and positive. How can we convey the basics while also inviting students to enter into the complex political life of our country, which includes the good, the bad and the ugly? Continue reading Word Generation Social Studies Units