Motivating Students Is Always A Challenge. Motivating students is one of the most elusive and commonly discussed topics during my work with teachers. Many times, the conversation starts with a statement like, “They just won’t do the work,”or, ”I can’t get them motivated.” I’ve said these things myself, and I’m sure you have, too. The common theme in both of … Read More
5 Ways to Use Padlet in Your Classroom
What is Padlet? Padlet, in case you aren’t aware, is a fantastic live posting board you can utilize with your students or colleagues to collect, curate, interact, and comment on anything from documents, posts, ideas, or web links. All this collaboration happens in real-time, and anyone can access it from anywhere as long as they have the link to your … Read More
7 Ways to Make Learning Impossible in Your Classroom
We talk a lot about how to increase student achievement and improve learning in our classrooms. A lot of these conversations are centered around what needs to be added or changed in a classroom, NOT what should be removed. Many of the practices that still exist in classrooms across the country are not only outdated, but they are making progress … Read More
Embracing Student-Generated Questions in the Classroom
Guest post by: Dr. Molly Ness Make Way for Questions: Embracing Student-Generated Questions in the Classroom “If there is a Big Dipper and a Little Dipper, why isn’t there a Middle Dipper?” This question – from my six-year old niece – came as we looked into the night sky. Her question was impressive – not only in its insightfulness, but also … Read More
7 Challenges You Will Face with Mastery Learning
Success with mastery learning doesn’t come without challenges. Working with teachers across the country to implement mastery learning has shown me a lot of things. I’ve seen amazing educators, fantastic ideas, new solutions, and innovative concepts that I think will change education one day. I have also worked with many teachers to overcome challenges as they shift their classroom from … Read More