Sheldon T. Soper

Skilled writer, teacher, blogger and editor

New Jersey, USA

I am a middle school teacher with over a decade of classroom experience teaching students to read, write, and problem-solve. I hold teaching certifications in English, Social Studies, and Elementary Education as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the field of education. I am currently a freelance writer for a number of education, technology, and parenting focused websites. I am always open to new projects and opportunities!

Sheldon T. Soper

Skilled writer, teacher, blogger and editor

New Jersey, USA

Featured
A Fair Opportunity for Success
Technology is becoming a ubiquitous component of modern day classrooms. Tools like Chromebooks, laptops, and iPads provide powerful ways for students to create, collaborate, and access information. Students benefit from this access and can use it to build crucial skills for their 21st century world.
Featured
Making Project-Based Learning Authentic
By now, the educational benefits of Project Based Learning (PBL) are well documented. Students who participate in high-quality PBL develop skills, processes, and products that are an ideal match for the demands of the 21st century. That being said, a teacher can design the most complex, differentiated, and open-ended project ever created, but if the students aren’t interested, they won’t engage.
Featured
The Constantly Evolving Role of the School Librarian
Over the past twenty years, perhaps no position in education has transformed more than the school librarian. I spoke with two veteran school librarians to get a better idea just how much their jobs have evolved: Andrea Ange is a veteran librarian and web master at Campbell High School in Litchfield, NH.
Featured
Why I’m Shifting My Classroom from iPads to Chromebooks
Back in 2012, I was given an opportunity to become the first and only teacher in my school district to have a class set of brand-new iPad 2s. Here on Chromebook.net, we already saw in 2011 that Chromebooks were going to change the education system in a big way. Now, years later, it’s obvious that Chromebooks have taken the classrooms by storm.
Featured
3 Steps to Encourage Student Mindfulness
Any teacher will tell you, it is impossible to teach a student who is not in the proper head-space to learn. Thankfully, there are things educators can do to make their environments more focused and peaceful places to learn. Promoting mindfulness skills with students doesn’t require any complex curriculum or extensive professional development.
Featured
Video Games Are Not the Enemy
Video games are continuing to grow as a mainstream form of entertainment. Whether it’s tapping away on a smartphone or mashing the buttons on a controller, kids (…and adults) are increasingly turning to interactive entertainment over more passive activities like watching TV or movies. Along with this rise comes the recurring complaints about the negative impacts video games are having on our society: a lack of social skills, overexposure to violent and mature themes, addictive obsession, general lethargy.
Building Time Management Skills in a D.I. Classroom
Differentiating instruction for students based on readiness, interest, and learning style is a powerful way to make learning personal and effective. Research shows that giving students options in how they engage with content and skill practice often results in an overall increase in engagement and growth.
Education
Using Classroom Debates to Engage Students
Any teacher or parent of adolescents will tell you, kids love to argue! With some effort, you can harness this natural inclination in your classroom as a way to improve your students’ content knowledge and literacy abilities. Two of the targeted initiatives in the Common Core standards are a focus on developing students’ speaking and listening skills and a focus on developing students’ abilities to support claims with evidence.
Education
Strengthening Reading Skills Using Current Events
As a social studies teacher in the Common Core era, my curricular responsibilities have gradually shifted away from historical material and more towards the realm of teaching strategies for reading and creating nonfiction text. More and more, teaching the skills required to engage with social studies content has usurped the push to memorize names, dates, locations, and stories.
Education
Fantastic Flashcard Apps
Technology has made a lot of the tried-and-true educational mainstays irrelevant to today’s student: the calculator defeated the abacus and the internet put most encyclopedia salesmen out of business. These two fantastic flashcard apps may be sending the 3”x 5” index card into retirement. Quizlet is an amazing study application that works on iOS, Android, and PCs.
Technology Education
Using Student Choice to Improve Tutoring Instruction
Differentiated instruction has become an increasingly hot topic in classroom education over the past decade. Research has shown that students are more successful when they are offered choice and agency in their own learning. Students then have the ability to make learning and assessment decisions that are best suited to their individual needs and learning styles.
Education
What Does a Child Study Team Evaluation Mean for Your Child?
What Does a Child Study Team Evaluation Mean for Your Child? The request for a school’s child study team to evaluate a child can be a daunting one to receive. For parents, it can bring forth feelings of confusion or difficult memories of how special education was perceived in their past. Does the request imply your child is broken or unintelligent?
Education

About

Sheldon T. Soper

writing

blogging

teaching

cover letter revisions

education

editing

research

professional development

I am a middle school teacher with over a decade of classroom experience teaching students to read, write, and problem-solve. I hold teaching certifications in English, Social Studies, and Elementary Education as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the field of education. I regularly create and lead in-service opportunities for educators in how to incorporate best-practices with technology into their pedagogy.

Currently I write for a variety of internet sites including The Knowledge Roundtable and Chromebook.net. I also have experience writing long-form product reviews as well as articles pertaining to parenting adolescents. Some examples of my published work are included here; additional samples can be found on my Pinterest boards or provided upon request.

During a break in my education career, I served as a recruiter for IT professionals primarily in the financial sector. A key component of the position involved curating and revising resumes of candidates to feature relevant skills and experience. I continue to offer this expertise on a freelance basis.

My personal hobbies and interests are fairly diverse. I was an award-winning radio broadcaster at Ithaca College. I have experience building computers and designing home entertainment configurations with them for family and friends. I am a DIY enthusiast specializing in older home renovations as well as furniture building and design. I follow sports, technology, and political news closely. For fun, I spend time collecting and repairing retro video game systems, playing recreational league sports, and spending time at home with my wife and two dogs.

I pride myself on being diligent, motivated and detail-oriented. I take my work seriously and have the ability to adapt and adjust to the needs and requests of clients. I always honor my commitments and deadlines, often delivering early.

Currently, I am available for both short-term and long-term opportunities. I look forward to putting my skills to work for you!