Author Archives: Jeremiah Short

Intro: In lieu of my interview with Dr. Kathryn Garforth on my approach to Literacy, I decided to put together a quick breakdown in the form of a Literacy Block. My Literacy Block Word Study: Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary For word study, I used a routine that I call Word Power, which interweaves phonological awareness,Continue reading “Phenomenal Instruction: The Literacy Block”

Intro: Last week, I wrote about the first stage of Lesson Planning: Mapping A Unit or The Before.  Today, the focus is the part of planning that is viewed as boring and laborious: Lesson Planning or Doing The Lesson Plans. I get why teachers don’t like the required responsibility. It’s repetitive, takes time, and you’llContinue reading “Phenomenal Planning: Don’t Lesson Plan, Lesson Design”

In my time as a teacher, the bane of most teacher’s existence is lesson planning. It’s the Sunday evening chore that they’d rather not have.  To alleviate that stress, I’ve developed a three-part process to lesson planning: Mapping A Unit(Before), Lesson Design, Not Lesson Planning(During), and Lesson Review(After).  Today, I’m focusing on the Before.  ThreeContinue reading “Phenomenal Planning: Mapping A Unit(Before)”

Last month, I received an advanced reader copy of “Building Better Writers”  by Natalia Heckman, a Seidlitz Education consultant. In the offering, she provides practical writing instruction to teachers of Emergent Bilingual, ESL, and traditional students.  I poured through the resource in two weeks…highlighting and making notes. After finishing it, I’d like to provide insightContinue reading “Phenomenal Review: Building Better Writers”

Science of Reading vs. Balanced Literacy has caused debate in homes, academic, and social media circles. SOR proponents have lamented the effectiveness of Balanced Literacy. Balanced Literacy advocates have argued that SOR focuses too much on phonics.  While I’ve never stated a side in the debate, I didn’t realize until recently that I was aContinue reading “Phenomenal Reflection: “It’s New But I Like It””

A couple of weeks ago, I released a #TalkingThursday: Be Intentional About Your Read-Aloud.  While read-alouds are an effective tool to introduce or review skills, a video-aloud is an effective option, as well. You may ask: What’s a video-aloud? Video-Alouds consist of playing a commercial, YouTube, Live-Action, Pixar or Disney clip for your students. ThroughoutContinue reading “Enhancing Learning with Video-Alouds: Accessible and Engaging Lessons for All Students”

Last week, I wrote about Teaching With Backwards Design, which was a piece of advice given to me by a friend and fellow educator, Khaleel Lott, during the 2017-2018 school year. Another comment from him resonated with me that year, as well: “I don’t teach anything in isolation.” The words ring true because you can’tContinue reading “Phenomenal Instruction: Don’t Teach In Isolation”

Khaleel Lott, a co-worker and friend, bellowed to me(a 2nd-year teacher): Short, you’re good at teaching with Backwards Design. Me(In My Head): What the heck is Backwards Design?  In the years since, I’ve learned that it’s planning lessons with the goal of reaching a desired objective.  For example, let’s take this TEK(Texas Based Standard): 3.8(C)Continue reading “Phenomenal Instruction: Teach With Backwards Design”

An anecdote from As I Took My Walk With God II: Greatness Was Upon Them.  The Greatness Talk Place: Greatness Room, Late In 2016-2017 School Year Intro: Do Your Part Opening the talk, I let the kids know that 16 of them would have passed the Math Benchmark if they had correctly bubbled in theirContinue reading “#FlashbackFriday: The Greatness Talk”

Traditionally, the gradual release follows this structure: I(Do), We(Do), You(Do). It’s a simple but efficient method to teach multiple subjects. A few years ago, I added an additional component to the model: Student(Do).  What is a Student(Do)? It’s where a peer, after initial instruction, models how to answer the question or correct a sentence. ToContinue reading “Phenomenal Instruction: Add A Student(Do)”