As I was watching my favorite hockey team the other day, I noticed something that struck me during one of the brawls that (for whatever reason) still occur in the almost every game. I was amazed as the guy wearing the black and white striped shirt held two huge athletes at bay and got them to stop fighting without even … Read More
Self-Paced Learning IS NOT Self-Taught
Self-paced learning can be a great tool. If you’ve ever tried to implement mastery or self-paced learning in your classroom, or attempted a long-term project that is student-centered, you’ve probably tried it (or are still doing it) because, frankly…these things work. Anytime you can make your classroom more student-centered and meet the needs of more students, you’re going to increase … Read More
Why You Should Focus on Small Classroom Victories
Are you focusing on small classroom victories? Teaching can be exhausting, and it can seem like a futile endeavor at times. The amount of work that goes into a single day or unit of instruction is tremendous, without a necessary guarantee of student success. So when a unit is finished, or a hard day is done, it’s easy to look … Read More
5 Reasons to STOP Using Textbooks in Your Lesson Planning
As I continue working with more and more teachers I’m often surprised at how many I still see “page turning” to plan instruction. “Page turning” is a form of lesson planning that a teacher uses, that is simply opening a textbook and continuing where they left off during the last lesson. Now don’t get me wrong, textbooks have their place … Read More
5 Ways to Give Your Students More Freedom in Your Classroom
Let Freedom Ring in Your Classroom! When the bell rings, is it the ring of freedom or that of condemnation for your students at the start of class? Freedom is something that we hold very dear to our hearts in this country. We wave flags to celebrate it, our soldiers sacrifice their lives to protect it, and we tout it … Read More