Unmasking the Fears of Communicating with EL Parents

Andrea BitnerBlog, Classroom Management, Differentiation, Student Engagement

TL;DR: أهلا بك…欢迎…bienvenido….welcome! We can empower ourselves and improve relationships by taking action to empower our EL parents. Learn the preferred language spoken at home for EL parents. Below are three great translation resources you can access to help communicate with EL parents rather than asking a family friend or sibling to help communicate. “Andrea, you HAVE to be at … Read More

One Size Does Not Fit All

Kristen KoppersBlog, Differentiation, Lesson Planning

TL;DR: Just like it’s impossible for one size of pants to fit all students, one way of teaching will not reach all students. In addition, teachers come from a variety of backgrounds themselves and naturally have different styles. Learn how to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of each student. The Perfect Pants The movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants … Read More

What Educators Can Learn from Choose Your Own Adventure Books

Teach Better TeamBlog, Differentiation, Innovation, Leadership, Lesson Planning, Student Engagement

Originally published at ASCD.com: https://www.ascd.org/blogs/what-educators-can-learn-from-choose-your-own-adventure-books This post was co-authored by Greg Bagby. TL;DR: Choose Your Own Adventure books provide lessons we can apply to the educational world. Learning and trying new things can be complicated and messy, but it is worth the journey. Everything doesn’t always go the way you intend, but you learn from all of your experiences. Having … Read More

Engage and Elevate Better with Data

Martin SilvermanBlog, Classroom Management, Differentiation, Leadership, Lesson Planning, Reflect Better, Student Engagement

TL;DR: Data drives many of our decisions in education. It comes from a variety of sources and is more than just numerical information from test scores. The use of data needs to be intentional and involve not only educators but students and families as well. Elevate data by using it to not only help you see progress but to help … Read More

Take Ownership: It’s Leadership!

Teach Better TeamBlog, Differentiation, Leadership, Reflect Better, Student Engagement

TL;DR: Take ownership to speak up when there is injustice and make a difference. Equitable practices in education mean change sparked by reflection. Consider our biases and use picture books to introduce the 7 “isms” to start the conversation: ableism, classism, ageism, religion as an ism, racism, homophobia/heterosexism, and sexism. Take ownership: It’s leadership! Leaders speak up when there is … Read More