Competency Based Learning (CBL) is gaining popularity and has been growing as more schools, districts, and educational systems realize the many benefits it offers. Called by many names and crossing over many initiatives, including: Mastery Learning, Personalized learning, Formative Assessment, and Differentiation, competency based learning can truly help educators meet the needs of all students. This also begs that we understand … Read More
Stop Saying You Don’t Have Enough Time! (Video)
Trust me, I get it. I’ve been there. Changing your instruction, or implementing something new into your classroom, is not easy. It takes time. But if it is valuable enough and is going to increase the impact on your students learning journey, don’t tell me there’s not enough time. Put the time in now, because the payoff you’ll get later … Read More
What Motivates Students?
There is a question that I’m getting more and more at workshops and trainings and that is “how do I motivate my students to work?” I hate to break it to you, but there is no “magic bullet” solution to this. Every student is going to have their own solution to getting motivated. However, there are some things you can ask … Read More
Curriculum Compacting- Six Steps to Make it Work
You now know all about the what and the why of curriculum compacting (and if you don’t check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this series). Next, it’s time to talk about how to make it actually work in your classroom with your students and your unique situation. Start at the Standards Your first step, whether you are curriculum … Read More
Building a Positive Assessment Culture.
Assessment is a great tool. Assessment, whether summative or formative, is the single best way to measure student understanding. In the world of “state tests” assessment has gotten a pretty bad rap, and this is dangerous, because building formative assessment in to your instruction more often can transform your classroom. By constantly assessing students we can measure their understanding, misconceptions, … Read More