TL;DR: Stop putting much pressure on yourself. Once you have stopped, then you can truly start. The highest standard we can have is meeting students where they are. When it comes to achieving higher standards, we must know what motivates and encourages students, and how they understand as well as process things. As we know, the past year has been … Read More
Why You Should Start Your Own Nonprofit Organization
TL;DR: Begin your nonprofit organization by raising money and awareness. Until you are ready to start a nonprofit, leverage your profession and community to create change for your kids. It’s no big secret: the unsung heroes in our communities and the driving force for change are teachers! With the important role a teacher plays in our lives, it’s a shame … Read More
Be a Leader Who Empowers Your Staff
TL;DR: Be a leader who empowers your staff by helping each teacher see their strengths and potential. Opening up classrooms to walkthroughs gives small groups of teachers on grade and subject-level teams the opportunity to discover the cool things their colleagues are doing. Walkthroughs can have a theme around literacy, student engagement, standards-based grading, or anything else your school is … Read More
How Can Schools Build a Roadmap for the Future?
TL;DR: As school teams begin to build a roadmap for the future, they should identify priority standards and learning targets. It is also important that they establish common formative assessments. The strongest instructional plan is based on the needs of the learners and the experience of professional educators. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get … Read More
Developing a Quality Curriculum
TL;DR: Develop a quality curriculum by identifying desired outcomes, unpacking the standards, identifying transfer goals, and prioritizing curriculum development. A quality curriculum can become the constant in schools, rather than a variable determined by each teacher. When school districts commit to clarifying the curriculum, each student will have a greater chance of success as he/she enters the next grade level. … Read More