Collins Blog

It seems like we were just welcoming you to a new school year, and now here we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Regardless of grade or subject area, it is important to close the year with reflection and summary activities that encourage students to look back at their growth and celebrate how far they’ve come. In this l ast Exchange of the 2023-2024 school year, we offer some suggestions for prompts that can be used to do just that. Click here for the full list

Students enjoy writing about things they know - especially themselves! This month, our focus is on personal narratives, which can enhance writing instruction, build style and voice, and increase student engagement.

"How do I know what I think until I see what I say?" - E. M. Forster Our recent newsletters have explored ways to use real, relevant, and relatable writing in all content areas. This is not a new concept. For decades, there has been an evidence-based trend towards using writing in every area of educational programming. Knowing that writing is not exclusively a skill for the ELA classroom is the WHY for our simple, effective, and efficient strategies. The need for cross-cont

“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”   - Mark Twain Our recent newsletters have explored ways to use real, relevant, and relatable writing in all content areas. This month, we are highlighting how our strategies are equally effective when used as a “learning to write” framework. In fact, our foundational work was intended for ELA teachers, and it worked so well that we expanded to “writing to learn” across the curriculum. Knowing that writing is not exc

Every teacher needs a toolbox for building solid academic skills, critical thinking, and content-area understanding. Collins teachers have three power tools at their disposal to build active cognitive engagement and use writing to help clarify thinking and convey ideas. Read more about each Collins Power Tool Power Tool below... Summary Writing In this structured assignment, students read content-based nonfiction texts or articles (typically around 500-1000 words depending on

Our recent work in PBL and CTE classrooms has caused us to think about, and reassess, what makes meaningful assessment. Research suggests that meaningful assessment should: Steer teaching and learning as a process - not an end point - with short, middle, and long cycles. ( Fisher and Frye ) Ensure that students genuinely understand material and cannot succeed by accident (like some multiple choice, T/F, matching, etc.) — they should be virtually "un-cheatable." ( Hernandez )