Teaching Strategies
Recent Newsletter Articles
50 Shades of Meaning
Explicit vocabulary instruction can often be a neglected vein of ESL instruction. This article provides research-based, user-friendly ideas to grow students beyond a surface level knowledge of words to deeper vocabulary comprehension and usage. Read More
Desmos: Interactive and Engaging Online Instruction
At the start of my virtual instruction journey in 2020, I tried out several instructional tools to make my online synchronous instruction more engaging than a talking head and a PowerPoint. Desmos is the only one I’m still using three years later. Originally built for math instruction, Desmos is a virtual instructional tool that allows you, the teacher, to build interactive practice for students, accessible via a link or code, and lets you see each student’s work live as they are doing it. Read More
MCTM 2023 Spring Conference Highlight: Building Thinking Classrooms
In April, over 800 people gathered at the annual Minnesota Council for Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM) Spring Conference in Duluth. Adult Education had a strong presence this year! By far, the hot topic in everyone’s mind after the conference was Peter Liljedahl’s symposium and keynote on Building Thinking Classrooms. Read More
Using AI in Adult Ed
Imagine a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is writing the MN ABE Connect news articles.... Newsflash: we’re already here. Read on for an article about using AI in Adult Education... written by AI itself. Read More
Using Number Categories to Build Coherence – Part 3
In our previous investigations into number systems, we connected the whole numbers to the integers. Now we backtrack to the next category that actually comes earlier in the CCRS and most books. While we have closed the operations of addition and subtraction with the whole numbers and integers, we now need to check on the next operations: multiplication and division, and how they lead us to rational numbers. Read More
The Multilingual Link
With much supportive research, students and their teachers are encouraged to honor and harness their students’ first languages as it helps their English language acquisition, their acculturation, and their connection with their own families and children. Read More
Using Number Categories to Build Coherence – Part 2
Number systems are ways of categorizing values with common characteristics. Understanding how we label numbers and categorize their properties can help us to explain the coherence of operations to our students and connect the CCRS standards. This article will introduce problems that arise as operations other than addition create numbers that do not fit into the whole number system. Read More
New Resources Available in the Antiracism in ABE Library!
For the past year, we have been working to revamp the Antiracist Instruction category since we know teachers are looking for specific things to try in their classrooms. Though Antiracist teaching requires deep reflection and constant expansion of our knowledge of culturally responsive practices and how to recognize racism in education, we know it’s helpful to move theory into practice when we can see some examples too. Read More
Using Number Categories to Build Coherence – Part 1
Number systems are ways of categorizing values with common characteristics. Understanding how we label numbers and categorize their properties can help us to explain the coherence of operations to our students and connect the CCRS standards. Read More
The Past is a Blast! Incorporating Social Studies Content into Your HSE Classroom
ABE HSE teachers know the challenge of incorporating four subject areas into their instructional delivery. While there are many ways to blend subject-area disciplines together, one consideration is to incorporate social studies content into reading, writing, speaking/listening, and language instruction. Fortunately, there are plenty of classroom-ready resources that will achieve this blending of content and literacy skills. Read More