In this post: The importance of providing freedom for students in your writing instruction. Strategies to use when teaching writing to shift the focus to student voice. My experience and background in empowering student writers. When we think about teaching writing, we often associate it with the traditional 5 paragraph essay, a regimented guide, or a ready-made curriculum. There’s a … Read More
Strategies to Increase Critical Thinking Skills in students
In This Post: The importance of helping students increase critical thinking skills. Ways to promote the essential skills needed to analyze and evaluate. Strategies to incorporate critical thinking into your instruction. We ask our teachers to be “future-ready” or say that we are teaching “for jobs that don’t exist yet.” These are powerful statements. At the same time, they give … Read More
Before You Know How, You Have to Know Why
In This Post: The importance of determining your purpose in education. How discovering your why can change your practice and have greater impact on your students. The impact of leading with purpose, especially on students with anxiety. Educational leadership and modeling your why. From our professional lives to our personal lives, there are so many things that we find ourselves … Read More
Make Every Moment Count: Myths and Strategies for Learning
In this post: A dispelling of some popular educational myths Tips to help students discover and activate their studying abilities Strategies to make every moment of learning count Tips to take directly into your classroom to help students learn more effectively When my 10 pound baby was born, I realized my first born son had gone his whole life (almost … Read More
Differentiate the Learning Not the Assignments
In This Post: Identify how to differentiate learning experiences versus only modifying assignments. See an example of how to differentiate your lesson instead of the materials or activities. Lighten your workload! Modify your instruction for all students to succeed instead of differentiating materials for each unique learner. Many times, we think of Differentiated Instruction (DI) as a method to make … Read More