August 6, 2025
April 24, 2025
One of my favorite ways to start the school year with my 7th Grade Language Arts students is with our…
Read More
January 22, 2025
Teaching at the middle school level is, in an understated nutshell, challenging. The successes are often few and far between,…
Read More_600_455_s_c1.jpg)
November 12, 2024
“I never thought I would be able to talk for that long.” “I learned that I definitely do not want to…
Read More_600_455_s_c1.png)
September 25, 2024
Maria entered the classroom and sat in the same place she always did, at a table by herself, far away…
Read More
March 29, 2023
I opened my reading notebook to see which students I would conference with today. I sighed. Scott was not enjoying…
Read More
January 26, 2023
The 6th Period I Thought I'd Never Miss. You know that one class you have every year? The one that…
Read More
January 26, 2023
It was supposed to be a tough year, and this was, after all, that class of students. That class that derails every conversation -…
Read More
January 25, 2023
I feel that I have had the support and opportunity to do some pretty incredible things in my 20-year teaching…
Read More
January 25, 2023
Oftentimes, teachers strive to keep the "high fliers" in a subject area engaged and challenged independently while we supply other…
Read More
January 24, 2023
When you think of math lessons, you probably don't usually think of "The Battle of the Math Bands," Fraction Egg…
Read More
January 24, 2023
As a multi-grade teacher in a small church school, it is hard to teach hands-on math because of time constraints.…
Read More
January 19, 2023
As an educator, building a relationship with your students is often the most delicate yet profoundly rewarding challenge you embark…
Read More
January 18, 2023
Many of us in the “visiting teacher” category are from special interest organizations that target a specific subject area. My…
Read More
January 18, 2023
I can remember the exact moment when I saw the future of education. It was around 2005, and I was…
Read More
September 27, 2022
After over a year of distance learning, my art teaching practice has changed dramatically. I found new and exciting ways…
Read More
September 27, 2022
Although I recognize that this institute targets K-12 educators, I find that their content also relates to older students. I…
Read More
September 27, 2022
How can one design a seating chart with 24 unique students? Do you use rows or groups, or the E…
Read More
September 27, 2022
There is a student of mine named Chris, who has become one of my favorite kids in the school. However,…
Read More
September 14, 2022
A focus in my life science class is appreciating our differences and finding beauty in imperfection. I highlight this throughout…
Read More
September 14, 2022
In 2019 I was in my tenth year of teaching and teaching at a Title I school in a…
Read More
September 13, 2022
In the past several years of my career, especially as we returned to school during the pandemic, my colleagues and…
Read More
September 13, 2022
For most of my thirty-year career in education, I taught seventh and eighth-grade math. Several years ago, our school adopted…
Read More
September 12, 2022
As a teacher, it is common to encounter many different kinds of students. It is even more common to meet…
Read More
September 12, 2022
Last year during our Extemporaneous Speech presentation, one student went awry. This student walked to the front looking super confident,…
Read More
September 12, 2022
How does a teacher get students to write who don’t want to write? And what I mean is…
Read More
August 1, 2022
As a language teacher, I enjoy operating in a field considered an elective but one that I consider imperative. We…
Read More
August 1, 2022
After many years as a special education intervention teacher centering on social-emotional awareness and wellbeing while delivering academic instruction, I…
Read More
October 27, 2020
Guest post written by Niko Yasui A successful lesson I have used over the past ten years has been “A New…
Read More
October 22, 2020
Guest post by Patrick Nearing Last spring, my students and I had our first concert together. I was so proud of…
Read More
October 21, 2020
Guest post by Tina Brady Last year, first-grade students struggled with consistency with sight word recognition and phonemic components, such as…
Read More
October 20, 2020
Guest post by Brad Cole Project-Based Learning (PBL). Getting the most out of your students, and students giving with passion the best…
Read More
October 15, 2020
Guest post by Jennifer Wilson I have been teaching at Hood River Middle School for ten years now. I teach 8th grade,…
Read More
June 16, 2020
Guest post by Alissa Lindeman As part of our community outreach program, we connected with a JOBS program through the local…
Read More
March 19, 2020
Guest post by THI instructor Michael Sedler When students don’t respond to an adult in the manner in which is expected,…
Read More
March 19, 2020
Guest post by Carrie Sullivan I had an opportunity to take a summer professional development offered by Oregon Agriculture. This course provides…
Read More
March 6, 2020
Guest post by Aimee Paulson Once upon a time, there was a middle school student who had given up on school. He…
Read More
January 22, 2020
We all use Wait Time, a typical 7 second or so pause, to enhance the richness and quality of student…
Read More
September 12, 2019
Let's face it teachers are gritty people. From completing a credential program to pursuing advanced degrees, it takes grit. If…
Read More
July 31, 2019
If you’d been in the parking lot at Menucha Retreat and Conference Center on Thursday morning, July 18th you might…
Read More
December 13, 2018
Holistic educatror Ba Luvmor interviews Heritage Institute President Mike Seymour as part of a series of interviews titled "Meetings with…
Read More
November 12, 2018
Most teachers depend on textbook reading to provide the backbone of their subject matter to students. But, how many times…
Read More![Online Interactive Reading [VIDEO]](http://static-assets.hol.edu/images/made/images/remote/https_static-assets.hol.edu/images/homepage/Video_Blog_Header-online_interactive_reading_600_455_s_c1.jpg)
September 13, 2018
In this short, Tips for Teachers Video, learn from Heritage Institute instructor Charity Staudenraus as she talks about online interactive reading using…
Read More
July 27, 2018
The idea of bringing the outside world of mathematics into a 20 x 40 square foot space to 30 squirrelly…
Read More![Google Apps for the Classroom [VIDEO]](http://static-assets.hol.edu/images/made/images/remote/https_static-assets.hol.edu/images/homepage/Video_Blog_Header-chris_hill_600_455_s_c1.jpg)
July 20, 2018
Have you thought of using Google Apps for the Classroom? Find out more about how you can use Google Apps to…
Read More
July 19, 2018
Two years ago our district began the process of textbook adoption for science. With the state recently adopting the new…
Read More
June 23, 2018
During a lesson how do you mentally measure where students are in their progress towards learning goals? If you are like…
Read More
June 10, 2018
Have you ever reached the end of the school year and felt like it was all a blur? I know I…
Read More
June 1, 2018
Let's be clear counting in small quantities is a skill most kids do naturally without much prompting or coaching needed,…
Read More
May 18, 2018
Okay you know the feeling it's math, and kids come into your classroom with all sorts of prior experiences and…
Read More
May 8, 2018
On my first day of school, in my new job teaching seventh-grade language arts and social studies in an inner-city…
Read More
March 28, 2018
It’s frustrating when your students are constantly misbehaving in order to get your attention or the attention of their classmates.…
Read More
March 26, 2018
"Mr. Long, can you call me Jason?", a former student asked me a few years ago. I could tell that…
Read More
March 5, 2018
Young children benefit from interacting with the same story again and again. They develop rich story language, learn new vocabulary…
Read More
February 27, 2018
What exactly is “Aboutitus?” It’s our tendency and habit of presenting a subject as bits & pieces, isolated elements, small topics,…
Read More
January 19, 2018
Most kinder and first grade teachers will agree a class group where the majority of students are boys will call…
Read More
January 5, 2018
In 2015, I started out with a great group of third grade students. I knew many of the students as…
Read More
January 1, 2018
I’ve talked to a lot of teachers about using Socratic seminars in class, a lesson format in which students take…
Read More![Teaching Invasive Species in the Classroom to meet Next Generation Science Standards [VIDEO]](http://static-assets.hol.edu/images/made/images/remote/https_static-assets.hol.edu/images/homepage/Video_Blog_Header-Eva_Varga_600_455_s_c1.jpg)
December 26, 2017
Learn about Teaching Invasive Species in the Classroom to meet Next Generation Science Standards with online continuing education instructor and…
Read More
December 24, 2017
There is nothing in the world more that I would want to do as a profession than be a high…
Read More![Tips for Teachers on How to Better Manage Overwhelm [VIDEO]](http://static-assets.hol.edu/images/made/images/remote/https_static-assets.hol.edu/images/homepage/Video_Blog_Header-Suzanne_Warner-Managing_Teacher_Overwhelm_600_455_s_c1.jpg)
December 15, 2017
Teachers have a lot to manage in the classroom and in their lives. Here are some tips for teachers on…
Read More
December 5, 2017
Some of the most impactful learning comes from activities that allow students to speak their minds and volunteer their own…
Read More![Mindsets in the Classroom [VIDEO]](http://static-assets.hol.edu/images/made/images/remote/https_static-assets.hol.edu/images/homepage/Mindsets_video_blog_header_600_455_s_c1.jpg)
December 4, 2017
Mindsets in teaching and learning are being recognized as a core foundation in education according to Heritage Institute instructor Brenda…
Read More
November 30, 2017
Getting kids to sit still for six hours a day is an almost impossible task! In the lower grades, recess…
Read More
November 20, 2017
Getting to know your students can be a challenge, especially when you see over 100 different kids in one day.…
Read More
October 30, 2017
In the wake of school violence, suicide and a host of other social problems that plague children and youth, teachers…
Read More
October 30, 2017
As a fourth grade social studies teacher I am often faced with comments such as, “History is so boring! How…
Read More
October 23, 2017
“I don’t read.” As a teacher of social studies and English, I’ve heard this more times than I can remember. Every…
Read More
October 19, 2017
Our students may not watch the news with the same kind of habitual regularity as their parents (or our parents)…
Read More
September 26, 2017
When I hit my fifth year of teaching, I felt pretty confident. I’d worked in three different schools, from inner-city…
Read More
September 26, 2017
“So, when are we moving seats?” I get this question about once every six weeks, and it works like an unofficial…
Read More
September 15, 2017
Early on in my teaching career, I recognized that while students were expected to take on more responsibility in high…
Read More
August 25, 2017
The bell rings and the students amble into the room. You stand at your post, greeting your middle schoolers, and…
Read More
August 23, 2017
I remember when, in my first year of teaching, I decided that Fahrenheit 451 would be a good choice for…
Read More
August 22, 2017
This article is dedicated to my esteemed colleagues who, like myself, belong to the Band Directors Facebook Group. This is…
Read More
August 18, 2017
The first day of school is fast approaching, and with it, the question of what you’re going to do on…
Read More
August 16, 2017
As teachers, we all want our students to be organized. We want them to be able to find any supply…
Read More
August 15, 2017
Maybe you saw the first one in mid-July, or just a few days ago. Maybe you saw it in early July,…
Read More
August 8, 2017
Are you and your students passionate about making the world a better place? Are you a teacher who strives to…
Read More
July 28, 2017
Love them or hate them, fidget toys are one of the latest fads to storm the world of education. These little…
Read More
July 28, 2017
Q: Kelly, how did you come to be an instructor for the Heritage Institute? In 2012, I was taking courses through…
Read More
July 13, 2017
If you work in a school, you probably know what a fidget spinner is. You may have even seen other…
Read More
July 13, 2017
Meet Suzanne Warner, Instructor of several Heritage Institute continuing education courses for teachers. Q: Suzanne, how did you come to…
Read More
June 5, 2017
One of the things I truly enjoy about teaching is that I also enjoy learning, and decades into my teaching…
Read More
May 1, 2017
Welcome to May! This month we are featuring: Google Classroom 2.0. Expand your use of Google Classroom with Instructor Charity…
Read More_600_455_s_c1.jpg)
April 1, 2017
Teacher burnout. Unfortunately, this is too common in our profession. I think back over my years of teaching and think…
Read More
March 8, 2017
All teachers who inspire kids to believe in themselves and that they are worthy of living the life of their…
Read More
March 7, 2017
Moving to the role of the principalship from classroom teacher is one of the biggest lifts in life of an…
Read More
February 20, 2017
This guest article is by Deb Lund, THI Instructor and was originally published at www.deblund.com. This morning I saw…
Read More
February 15, 2017
Guest post by Natasha Edinger Every summer I take a course or two through The Heritage Institute and am able to…
Read More
February 8, 2017
Welcome to February! This month we are featuring: Writing with Kids: Real Writing with Real Results. Inspire great writing from…
Read More
January 26, 2017
Welcome to 2017! This year we are excited to feature a different continuing education course every month that we know…
Read More
January 14, 2017
Welcome to our new website with a brand new learning environment for online courses, making your continuing education more accessible, convenient, interactive…
Read More
Professional Development
Courses for Educators.
PO Box 1273
Freeland, WA 98249
360.341.3020
360.341.3070 (fax)
NEWSLETTER
Sign up
for new course announcements, specials and Heritage Institute News.