Humanizing School: 3 Ways to Make Students Feel Valid and Valued

Teach Better TeamBlog, Classroom Management, Innovation, Leadership, Student Engagement

HUMANIZING SCHOOL - Jeffrey Austin

We can try to humanize school with help from students. Students provided feedback through student-centered discussions on humanizing schools. Students were more interested in foundational changes than they were in educational technology or systems. The 3 major categories students’ responses fall into are trusting students, valuing their knowledge, and providing meaningful feedback. Recently, in a training with a local non-profit, … Read More

Creating a Mastery Grid in Google Docs (video)

Teach Better TeamBlog, Classroom Management, Edtech, Lesson Planning, Mastery Learning, Video(s)

Creating a mastery grid in google docs - video

Working on your next Mastery Grid?  Video Highlights Editing a Mastery Grid template can get a little tricky when you don’t have the same numbers of learning opportunities at each level as the template does. Have no fear! This video will show you how to build your own Mastery Grids in Google Docs using tables and merging cells. Build … Read More

Helping Black Students find their Voice in School

Teach Better TeamBlog, Classroom Management, Innovation, Lesson Planning

Helping Black Students Find Their Voice in School

Helping black boys find their voice: The Power of Thematic Teaching in High School English Classrooms What we know: I’ve taught High School English for over 15 years, and I’ve fought the notion that the classics are “clientele specific.” In more forward terms, you can’t teach the classics if you have a room comprised of mostly black teenage boys. You … Read More