TRANSCRIPT BELOW Hey guys, it’s Chad and I want to take a minute to talk about something that’s been bothering me. It has to do with grading. I was talking to a parent the other day and they were talking about how their child brings home these stacks of homework but the teacher only gives them a participation grade. So … Read More
College Readiness is Not an Excuse for Bad Teaching.
What about college readiness? I hear this from time to time during workshops as we discuss things like lesson structure, homework, grading, student ownership, or even multiple attempts on assignments. Whenever an educator wants to continue doing something like lecturing all the time, or scold and punish a student for forgetting a pencil, they say: “we need to prepare them … Read More
Let Your Students Fail (Video)
Hi, guys. Today I want to talk about something called failure. It’s something we’ve probably all experienced. More importantly, it’s something our students experience. Some of our students experience this so much that they actually get immune to it. That’s why that student, when you hand out that paper, goes “Psh, I’m not doing that.” The reason that students fight … Read More
The Power of “YET” In Your Classroom
More Than A Word… One of the most powerful transformations I ever made to my classroom was how I dealt with student failure to foster growth and progress. It was more than just changing my instruction, it was also changing the way I talked to, interacted with, and reacted to students when they struggled. This required a large culture shift … 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