TL;DR: Students forget most of what they “learn” in school. Acknowledging this gives us the freedom to focus on powerful learning experiences. Wrestling with the impermanence of some school “learning” challenges our core values as educators. What is Learning, Really? Educational thought leader Will Richardson loves to invite teachers to share their definitions of learning. His observation: most of us … Read More
Emotional Turbulence: Living Life on FAST FORWARD
TL;DR: We are all still in recovery from the difficulties of the past couple of years. Even leaders make mistakes, have bad days, and need grace. Take time to reflect on your strengths and what you know works. Slow down and think about your impact on the individual student, classroom, school, and community. Emotional Turbulence: Living Life on FAST FORWARD … Read More
Kids Do Better When They Are Engaged
TL;DR: Everyone wants to be engaged. What are some hooks you use in lessons to capture kids’ attention? Use the ATLAS strategy to think about engagement—attention, transition, lesson, activity, and summation. Engagement Engagement! We can’t get away from it. This is only the 3rd post of my new series—Kids Do Better When…and I’m already talking about engagement again. Do you … Read More
How Do You Differentiate Up?
TL;DR: When you differentiate, what are you doing for students who need more of a challenge? You must differentiate up as well. When we hear the term differentiate, we often think this means differentiating to support kids who are struggling. It might mean taking a complex task and chunking it into more easy-to-digest pieces. It could be scaffolding a lesson … Read More
Equity & Inclusion: Diving Deep Into Understanding Classism
TL;DR: Create opportunities to “level the playing field” for your students. Address classism; it benefits everyone by us doing so. Educators hold the key to making a difference when it comes to addressing classism. Deep Diving Into Understanding Classism: Equity & Inclusion Out of all the blogs I have ever yet written, this topic holds the closest spot to my … Read More