TL;DR: Effective curriculum design teams don’t view their work as a masterpiece but as a draft. Having a draft allows room for reflection, feedback, and modifications to improve the curriculum. Curriculum design teams are often torn between creating a draft document or a masterpiece. Teacher leaders are typically perfectionists, and they strive to create a masterpiece before sharing the curriculum … Read More
Why Gradeless? Breaking Free From Grades
TL;DR: Our grading habits can be inconsistent and have limited value in the learning process. The extrinsic motivation of grades often limits our students’ drive for deeper learning. Going gradeless is not a simple process, but a worthy one to help students reflect, listen to feedback, and grow. In traditional education systems, grades have long been the primary measure of … Read More
Lessons Learned From Learning Walks
TL;DR: A learning walk can be a fly-by, informal observation, look for and ask about, peer observation, or video observation. You can even do learning walks in other schools. Problems with learning walks can include the purpose, timing, data collection, feedback, and closure. Steven shares 5 planning questions and next steps for learning walks. Lessons Learned from Learning Walks Yogi … Read More
Having Tough Conversations in Schools
TL;DR: We need to be more comfortable with having tough conversations in schools. Diving deep into the uncomfortable is part of the job of an educator. This year, my school is focusing on developing more equitable practices, which include equitable grading, incorporating equitable dialogue into our curriculum, and addressing behavior issues where students aren’t treating each other equitably or respecting … Read More
Turn Up the Quiet
TL;DR: In today’s world, there is a lot of noise in our lives. Everyone benefits from some silence to give their mind some peace and open it up for thoughts, dreams, and inspiration. Ever get in your car at the end of a school day and you have to turn off all sounds? Music, podcasts, potential phone calls, all of it—off. … Read More