TL;DR: Creating a culture of excitement leads to a positive learning environment that encourages collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. Excitement is contagious. Learn 7 ways to create an enthusiastic environment and 7 ways to create an enthusiastic lesson. Spend time laughing with your students; it is essential to creating a warm and positive classroom culture where students feel comfortable and … Read More
Embrace Differences in Teaching Styles
TL;DR: Different teaching styles work for both teachers and students. Spiraling concepts helps students build knowledge. Take time for students to build relationships. Check in with parents for additional feedback. Embracing Differences in Teaching Styles I recently got the opportunity to reflect as a mentor in a guest panel at the Mentoree Podcast through Voice Ed Canada. Authentic questions were … Read More
Let’s Talk about Religion as an ism!
TL;DR: Individuals all have their own religious or faith-based practices they bring into the classroom. Take the time to learn about all the different beliefs and holidays. Reevaluate the options you are giving to students and staff. Make everyone feel welcome. I was taught by my father, my Thathi who said never ever to discuss this topic since it’s political. … Read More
Friends like Family | Gholdy Muhammad | Assessing Competencies
In Don’t @ Me (2:16), Tom reflects on a camping trip about his core group of friends who are more like family. Then, Tom is joined by Gholdy Muhammad (11:51) to discuss her book, “Cultivating Genius, an Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy.” Finally, in “Assess THAT with Tom & Nat” (46:40), Tom and special guest Natalie Vardabasso … Read More
3 Steps to Dive Deeper Into the Cultural Iceberg
TL;DR: Explore your cultural iceberg. What are the visible and less visible bits of your culture? What does culture mean to you and how can you address it in the classroom? Take a global perspective when teaching about cultures. “Equity and Inclusion Just Got Better” Blog Reflection Questions: What does culture mean? How is culture embedded into the curriculum we … Read More