After two years of Covid it seems that we may finally "be back to normal" or some type of normalcy in the classroom so my main goal for this year is to plan the course allowing time to teach writing skills. In the past I assigned three Investigation Essays without spending much time teaching the skill, but this year I intend to incorporate the claim testing activities that come with most of the thresholds. I want to build a routine using evidence to support claims as well as the other claim testers until it becomes a habit of the mind. Using Score (Revision Assistant) will give me time to hold a brief one-on-one meeting with my students. I don't anticipate to be a lengthy process but a constructive step towards my end goal. 

Claim testers and time for writing... sounds like what I love! I also really appreciate your comments about one-on-one time with students. That is so challenging but so important.

My favorite sentiment from your response Laura Massa is your phrase "habit of mind". I like that too. When skills become a part of us--teaching or learning-- they become used, not just practiced. That takes time and patience, whether teaching or learning.

You give us words of wisdom. And BHP gives us a spiraling curriculum that embeds skills and concepts that are especially teachable with certain parts of the content. The skills progression placemat is a very useful tool for that. Do you use that at all to plan, or do you make selections as you make your way through the units?

Yes Donnetta Elsasser , I use the progression placemat but I leave room to be flexible and adjust to my student's learning process. Groups are different. Some are very thoughtful and committed, more of an independent learner, while others don't come with a set of skills that enable me to move faster, so I am always attentive and mindful of my groups. I do have a course plan but if my students are stuck with a concept and need additional explanation or practice, I include it. I search in the OER website and dig into other courses to incorporate activities that cover the concept in depth. For example, in threshold # 8 Acceleration, my students could not grasp the concept of division of labor and the assembly line, so I adapted one of the activities and did a brief simulation in the classroom. It worked super well and it was fun. Imperialism and colonialism are concepts that I developed through additional readings and activities from the OER using political cartoons that students analyze in groups, for example. I always cover all the thresholds well, but I allow room in my planning to deviate my original roadmap in order to provide a more ad hoc pedagogy.

Yes Donnetta Elsasser , I use the progression placemat but I leave room to be flexible and adjust to my student's learning process. Groups are different. Some are very thoughtful and committed, more of an independent learner, while others don't come with a set of skills that enable me to move faster, so I am always attentive and mindful of my groups. I do have a course plan but if my students are stuck with a concept and need additional explanation or practice, I include it. I search in the OER website and dig into other courses to incorporate activities that cover the concept in depth. For example, in threshold # 8 Acceleration, my students could not grasp the concept of division of labor and the assembly line, so I adapted one of the activities and did a brief simulation in the classroom. It worked super well and it was fun. Imperialism and colonialism are concepts that I developed through additional readings and activities from the OER using political cartoons that students analyze in groups, for example. I always cover all the thresholds well, but I allow room in my planning to deviate my original roadmap in order to provide a more ad hoc pedagogy.