Curriculum Design: Are We Creating a Draft or a Masterpiece?

Steven WeberBlog, Classroom Management, Leadership, Lesson Planning, Reflect Better

TL;DR: Effective curriculum design teams don’t view their work as a masterpiece but as a draft. Having a draft allows room for reflection, feedback, and modifications to improve the curriculum. Curriculum design teams are often torn between creating a draft document or a masterpiece.  Teacher leaders are typically perfectionists, and they strive to create a masterpiece before sharing the curriculum … Read More

Intelligence Doesn’t Have to Be Artificial

Aaron ElseBlog, Innovation, Lesson Planning, Student Engagement

TL;DR: AI is changing education, but is that bad? Students have the capability to look up information at their fingertips. Embrace the technology of today and offer your students authentic learning experiences. Artificial intelligence is about to change how we do everything in education. This is terrifying to a lot of educators. They fear students won’t learn at the same … Read More

5 Resources to Get ELA Students Ready for Testing Season

Teach Better TeamBlog, Differentiation, Lesson Planning, Student Engagement

TL;DR: Prepare ELA students for testing season by using Everyday Edits, CommonLit, Newsela, Wonderopolis, and NoRedInk. You can use these resources in your classroom as soon as tomorrow. 5 Resources to Get ELA Students Ready for Testing Season So here we are. It is the beginning of the dreaded testing season. We all need a vacation from our vacation. For … Read More

Lessons Learned From Learning Walks

Steven WeberBlog, Leadership, Reflect Better

TL;DR: A learning walk can be a fly-by, informal observation, look for and ask about, peer observation, or video observation. You can even do learning walks in other schools. Problems with learning walks can include the purpose, timing, data collection, feedback, and closure. Steven shares 5 planning questions and next steps for learning walks. Lessons Learned from Learning Walks Yogi … Read More

Serving on State and Regional Education Organizations

Dana GoodierBlog, Classroom Management, Leadership

TL;DR: Serving on the board of directors for a state or regional organization is a great way to give back. When organizing a conference, consider who your keynote speaker will be. You will also need to book exhibitors and sponsors. Make sure participants get what they need and know where to go. Ensure that session speakers have everything they need … Read More