TL;DR: Formative assessment is vital for effective teaching, offering real-time insights into student progress. Tom Schimmer advocates for diverse approaches, including thoughtful questioning, Socratic seminars, and one-on-one conferencing. Peer reviews, interactive technology, and strategies like think-pair-share enrich formative assessments, promoting collaboration and critical thinking. Tapestry of Formative Assessment Formative assessment is a tapestry and the heartbeat of effective teaching, offering … Read More
Teaching Students to Tackle Problem-Solving
TL;DR: Teach problem-solving through engaging challenges in middle school career technical education. Daily prompts require students to restate problems in their own words before attempting solutions. Shift from large projects to 1 to 2-day mini-challenges, enhancing student engagement and managing activities more effectively. One of the skills I’ve noticed that many students struggle with is problem-solving. Often, when you give … Read More
Bringing the World Into a Classroom: Experiential Learning
TL;DR: Experiential learning can help introduce students to global crises. Simulated crises like The Floor is Lava helps students understand teamwork and crisis management. Exploring natural and man-made disasters fosters awareness and proactive solutions. Bringing the World Into a Classroom I have been teaching in an experiential learning environment for many years now. The chance to plan something new is … Read More
Helping Students Write Clear, Respectful Emails
TL;DR: Students will need to email in their future jobs and often in their academic lives as well. Therefore, let’s teach them to do it well! Students will have a higher chance of professional success if they know how to communicate clearly and respectfully. The videos in this series will help your students learn to write emails that are both … Read More
The Bumpy Road of AI
TL;DR: There are parallels between off-roading and teaching in the age of AI. Students are motivated to use AI and work proactively to tackle the issues. This post shares practical tips for educators to embrace AI tools in their teaching. “You may delay, but time will not.” — Benjamin Franklin I recently went off-roading with my husband. Now, we are not … Read More