Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

This photo depicts some of our best learning so far this year. The student in the foreground of this photo is clearly deep in thought, analyzing her group's progress. The boy across from her is checking his list, preparing to talk to his group about his progress. Students are focused on learning together, practicing social norms while building confidence and learning history deeply. What is this jack-of-all-trades activity they are participating in? The Ultimate US History Tournament: American Revolution Edition. I created a March Madness-style bracket activity to culminate our years' learning a few years ago, and it was a success. I decided to utilize it again for the American Revolution this year and it's been going well. Students need to generate their own lists of the most important people, places, events, and ideas first (one list per year of the war). Students at tables of 5 compare their lists, searching for commonalities (a good way to reinforce community among stud...

One of my greatest professional accomplishments was the day I certified as a National Board Teacher. My Cooperating Teacher is an NBCT and after witnessing the impact she had on her students (and me) it became one of my top bucket list accomplishments when I was hired twenty four years ago. One of my closest colleagues achieved certification eleven years ago, she and other colleagues convinced me to attempt and I certified in 2011. It's hard to believe but it's been close to ten years since my initial certification and I became a renewal candidate this school year. My initial certification cycle consisted of four portfolio entries, two unedited videos (one of me teaching small group activities, the other of me teaching a whole class activity), and six Assessment Center tests covering pedagogy and Social Studies-History concepts such as how to understand and teach primary sources to students. (The tests were stressful--candidates are required to go to a testing site and t...