TL;DR: Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14). It provides a great chance to engage students with tailored activities for different grade levels. Elementary school activities include Pi Day Storytime, creating a pi chain for memorization, and exploring circle art inspired by Russian artist Kandinsky. Middle school activities involve a Pi Day Scavenger Hunt and a Pi Memorization Contest. … Read More
What Educators Can Learn from Choose Your Own Adventure Books
Originally published at ASCD.com: https://www.ascd.org/blogs/what-educators-can-learn-from-choose-your-own-adventure-books This post was co-authored by Greg Bagby. TL;DR: Choose Your Own Adventure books provide lessons we can apply to the educational world. Learning and trying new things can be complicated and messy, but it is worth the journey. Everything doesn’t always go the way you intend, but you learn from all of your experiences. Having … Read More
Engage and Elevate Better – Professional Development
TL;DR: This is the first post of a new blog series about how we engage and how we elevate that engagement. Beginning of the school year PD likely was one size fits all but did not fully reach all. Engage our audience by considering what we do as effective teachers who plan for diverse learners in the classroom. Learn what … Read More
Engage with Others: Let Them Be Seen!
TL;DR: Engage with others better by being intentional about how you are acknowledging them. Create a sense of belonging by offering a personal greeting or a compliment. Don’t let anyone feel invisible as you walk by them in the hallway. The cafeteria is a great place to interact with students outside of the classroom. I love a good challenge! Last … Read More
What IS Engagement?
TL;DR: When we engage students in the curriculum, we need to consider whether we are creating excitement, curiosity, and interest to want to learn more. Behavioral, physical, social, emotional, and cognitive are all types of engagement to consider in an educational setting. Engagement is another word that became overused in 2020. As schools transitioned to remote learning this spring, districts … Read More