Susan Kotch
@susankotch.bsky.social
Middle School ELA teacher, Author, Community Volunteer, #sunchat mod (Sunday Mornings at 9am eastern) Lavallette NJ USA
We covered wildfires as a natural disaster before I left, too! I'm hoping the kids remembered some of what we talked about as they watched the coverage. #sunchat
April 27, 2025 at 1:13 PM
We covered wildfires as a natural disaster before I left, too! I'm hoping the kids remembered some of what we talked about as they watched the coverage. #sunchat
Love it, Carla! And kitty looks like she loves it too! Have a great break!
April 19, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Love it, Carla! And kitty looks like she loves it too! Have a great break!
Reposted by Susan Kotch
This is where self-paced learning journeys are incredibly helpfull. Ss who are able to work independently work on their own or in groups, freeing the teacher up to work with Ss who need extra help. In this blog post Ss talk about why they love it.
#sunchat
teachingexperiment.com/2022/04/how-...
#sunchat
teachingexperiment.com/2022/04/how-...
April 6, 2025 at 1:51 PM
This is where self-paced learning journeys are incredibly helpfull. Ss who are able to work independently work on their own or in groups, freeing the teacher up to work with Ss who need extra help. In this blog post Ss talk about why they love it.
#sunchat
teachingexperiment.com/2022/04/how-...
#sunchat
teachingexperiment.com/2022/04/how-...
When I see kids struggling to write full, complete sentences in a gen-ed class in 6th grade, and kids who are paragraphing, writing dialogue, full stories and full character development in the same gen-ed class, I have to wonder if the former should have been given more time to develop. #sunchat
April 6, 2025 at 1:49 PM
When I see kids struggling to write full, complete sentences in a gen-ed class in 6th grade, and kids who are paragraphing, writing dialogue, full stories and full character development in the same gen-ed class, I have to wonder if the former should have been given more time to develop. #sunchat
Since our focus is writing this year, we differentiate in many ways. Students who need more assistance are given tools to help them, such as organizers, articles for citing (insteading of finding them on their own), and maybe even less paragraphs. Focus is on structure, not quantity. #sunchat
April 6, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Since our focus is writing this year, we differentiate in many ways. Students who need more assistance are given tools to help them, such as organizers, articles for citing (insteading of finding them on their own), and maybe even less paragraphs. Focus is on structure, not quantity. #sunchat
... but we dropped the ball on that. For instance, those kids we kept pushing forward due to social promotion instead of allowing them to re-do a grade because they didn't gain the foundation - bad move. This would remove the stigma of "staying back". Take the class you need to succeed. #sunchat
...and Middle School which is comprised of grades 6,7,8 would be a great time to begin the practice of removing the "grade" and allowing kids to be placed in classes that would truly meet them where they are. I was hoping that Covid would have allowed for some changes... #sunchat
You know my thoughts on this from twitter chats - we need to abolish "grade levels" and let the kids group naturally by ability, regardless of age. If they are in a lower grade, but are excelling, they should be moved forward. Removing the "grade" would allow this to happen. No barrier. #sunchat
April 6, 2025 at 1:40 PM
... but we dropped the ball on that. For instance, those kids we kept pushing forward due to social promotion instead of allowing them to re-do a grade because they didn't gain the foundation - bad move. This would remove the stigma of "staying back". Take the class you need to succeed. #sunchat
We are pushing 30+ kids in an ICR class, mix of special ed and gen ed, and it can get bogged down with all of the differentiating, grouping, etc. Teaching today is not easy, mostly due to the parameters put on the teachers due to funding. Not sure where this is going. #sunchat
April 6, 2025 at 1:36 PM
We are pushing 30+ kids in an ICR class, mix of special ed and gen ed, and it can get bogged down with all of the differentiating, grouping, etc. Teaching today is not easy, mostly due to the parameters put on the teachers due to funding. Not sure where this is going. #sunchat
You know my thoughts on this from twitter chats - we need to abolish "grade levels" and let the kids group naturally by ability, regardless of age. If they are in a lower grade, but are excelling, they should be moved forward. Removing the "grade" would allow this to happen. No barrier. #sunchat
April 6, 2025 at 1:30 PM
You know my thoughts on this from twitter chats - we need to abolish "grade levels" and let the kids group naturally by ability, regardless of age. If they are in a lower grade, but are excelling, they should be moved forward. Removing the "grade" would allow this to happen. No barrier. #sunchat
I find that any more than 2 working together, and one of them is just sitting back and along for the ride. They don't quite know (or care to try) how to all contribute, and not all kids have the same work ethic or buy-in to the activity. Especially when for a grade. #sunchat
April 6, 2025 at 1:29 PM
I find that any more than 2 working together, and one of them is just sitting back and along for the ride. They don't quite know (or care to try) how to all contribute, and not all kids have the same work ethic or buy-in to the activity. Especially when for a grade. #sunchat