Friday Focus
Friday Focus is a weekly newsletter which provides teachers wth strategies, research and materials on a particular area of instruction.
2018-2019 Friday Focus
08-17-18 - What Great Teachers Do
08-24-18 - Strategies for Reading
09-07-18 - Reading is Thinking
09-14-18 - Can You Picture This?
09-21-18 - Selecting Text
10-12-18 - Supporting Students' Metacognition
10-19-18 - Going Deep into Digital Text
10-26-18 - Beginning With the End in Mind
11-02-18 - Teaching with Technology
11-09-18 - Centers & Stations in the Classroom
11-16-18 - The Power of Praise
11-30-18 - We All Have the Same Last Name
12-14-18 - Meeting Needs of Gifted Students
02-07-19 - Digital Literacy
2017-2018 Friday Focus
08-18-17 Welcome Back
08-25-17 Growth Mindset
09-15-17 The Value of Relationships
09-22-17 A Disposition to Learn
09-29-17 Make Them Believe in You
10-13-17 Effective Classroom Discussions
10-20-17 Getting Kids to Ask the Right Questions
10-27-17 Reciprocal Teaching
11-03-17 The Power of Feedback
11-10-17 The Power of Expectations
12-01-17 Time on Task
12-08-17 Why Use Formative Assessment?
01-26-18 Activate Prior Knowledge
02-02-18 Student Self-Efficacy
02-09-18 Setting the PACE
03-16-18 The Top of the List
03-23-18 Equipped for Excellence
04-27-18 The Benefits of Spiral Review
05-04-18 Remembering Our Goals
2016-2017 Friday Focus
08-19-16 25 Things Successful Teachers Do Differently
08-26-16 The Right Frame of Mind
09-02-16 Are My Students Learning?
09-09-16 Be an Agent of Change
09-16-16 Focus on Student Learning
09-23-16 Making Assessment Meaningful
10-14-16 The Power of Classroom Discussion
10-21-16 Spotlight on Excellence
10-28-16 Relationships First
11-04-16 Parent Communication
11-11-16 What is Explicit Instruction?
11-18-16 Setting the Stage for Learning
12-02-16 Modeling a Lesson - I Do
12-09-16 Providing Guided Practice
01-20-17 Providing Independent Practice
01-27-17 A Growth Mindset
02-03-17 Teaching Vocabulary
02-10-17 Mastering Constructed Responses
02-17-17 What Do Good Readers Do?
02-24-17 Creating a High-Tech Classroom
03-03-17 Increasing Active Engagement
03-10-17 The Value of Relationships
03-17-17 Using Graphic Organizers
03-24-17 Brain Breaks in the Classroom
2015-2016 Friday Focus
08-21-15 Goal Setting: A Basic Skill for Life
08-28-15 On PACE for Profiency
09-11-15 What Do Good Readers Do?
09-18-15 What Makes Students Do Good Work?
09-25-15 Qualities of Effective Teachers
10-09-15 Teaching Boys
10-23-15 Learning to Love Math
10-30-15 Teaching Students to be Close Readers
11-06-15 Why Use Formative Assessment?
11-13-15 Empowering Students to Learn
11-20-15 PVR - It's Brain Training
12-04-15 What Does That Mean?
12-11-15 Art Benefits the Brain
12-18-15 New Year's Resolution
2014-2015 Friday Focus
08-29-14 Writing in All Content Areas
09-12-14 Meeting the Needs of Our Gifted Students
09-19-14 Technology in All Content Areas
09-26-14 Questioning & Discussion
10-10-14 Special Education Done Right
10-25-14 Vocabulary Instruction Increases Comprehension
10-31-14 Achieving College & Career Readiness
11-07-14 5 Essential Components of Reading Instruction
11-14-14 Teaching Narrative Writing
11-21-14 Why Use Formative Assessment
12-05-14 A Season of Thanks
12-12-14 Reflecting on 2014 and Planning for 2015
2013-2014 Friday Focus
08-16-13 Heading Back to School
08-23-13 Lesson Planning on CIITS
08-30-13 Keeping the PACE
09-06-13 Using Flashbacks for Bellwork
09-13-13 Oh the Things We Can Do with Word Walls!
09-20-13 Questioning Our Questioning Strategies
09-27-13 The Big Idea of PLC's
10-11-13 Why New Science Standards
10-18-13 The Power Behind the Power Verbs
11-08-18 Accountability Counts!
12-06-13 The Reading/Writing Connection
12-13-13 What Does It Mean to "Do" Math?
2012-2013 Friday Focus
02-05-16 Student Use of Technology
02-12-16 Executive Functioning Skills
02-19-16 504 Referral Procedures
02-26-16 Making Connections
03-04-16 Serving the Whole Child
03-18-16 Teaching Consumerism
03-25-16 Keep Up the Good Work!
04-01-16 Teaching Happy Students
04-15-16 Great Teachers = Great Schools
04-22-16 Constructed Response Strategies
04-29-16 Assessment Prep: May the Force Be With You
05-06-16 A Letter to Teachers
05-13-16 Teaching World Language
01-09-15 Inquiry Based Learning
01-16-15 Snow Days can still be School Days
01-23-15 The Value of Content Literacy
02-06-15 Develop Both Thinking Through Better Questions
02-13-15 Explicit Direct Instruction
02-27-15 Making Cooperative Learning Powerful
03-13-15 Word Walls Work
03-20-15 Teaching Kids to be Smart Annotators
03-27-15 What to Do with Struggling Readers
04-10-15 Great Teachers = Great Schools
04-24-15 An Effective Mathematics Environment
05-15-15 It's Time to Test
01-17-14 Social Studies Across the Curriculum
01-31-14 Community Involvement in Education
02-14-14 Student Use of Technology
02-21-14 "Bridging Barriers and Changing Lives"
02-28-14 Maintaining the Standard of Excellence
03-07-14 What Do Good Readers Do?
03-28-14 Mastering the Craft of Constructed Response
04-11-14 Reaching our Highest Achievers
05-09-14 Great Review - It's Up to You
05-23-14 The Influence of a Good Teacher Can Never Be Erased
01-11-13 Asking Good Questions
03-01-13 The Value of Student Interaction
03-08-13 Teaching with the Brain in Mind
03-15-13 Using Research-Based Strategies
03-22-13 The Well-Managed Classroom
03-29-13 The Power of Close Reading
04-12-13 What are Text-Dependent Questions?