30 Things I Learned [About Teaching] Before Turning 30

Teach Better TeamBlog, Classroom Management

If Taylor Swift did it, why can’t I? Turning 30 is weird for me, mainly because everyone says it’s great, but I loved my 20s SO much that it’s hard to imagine better! It’s the time I got my dream job…and in that same decade have been referred to as a veteran teacher. I’ve worked with many students in so … Read More

Collaborative Behavior Planning: Putting Students at the Helm

Francesca RivelliniBlog, Classroom Management, Differentiation, Innovation, Student Engagement

In this post: Discover the biggest problem with most student behavior plans What is a student-led behavior plan? Steps to make a student-led behavior plan work for students and teachers Let’s get this out in the open: implementing and designing behavior plans to improve the behavior of challenging students is not an easy task. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they … Read More

3 Ways to Focus on the “Why” Instead of the “What” – Building Deeper Meaning in Learning

Teach Better TeamBlog, Grading & Assessment, Innovation, Lesson Planning, Mastery Learning, Student Engagement

In this post: How to move from “What” to “Why” Dive into DoK to deepen the learning Just ask! The power of asking your students “Why” Don’t rob students of the chance to discover and go deeper Ban “What” From Your Classroom Education has long been far too focused on the acquisition of information and learning how to follow algorithms … Read More

It’s About Why, Not What – Getting Beyond the Facts and into the Meaning Behind the Learning

Teach Better TeamBlog, Innovation, Lesson Planning, Mastery Learning

In this post: What really matters in learning – and why we so often miss it Please, don’t use the butterfly method or impose death-by-grammar-worksheets How to move from “What” to “Why” 3 ways you can make the shift right now Picture this – you are sitting in your next staff meeting and the district has brought in someone to … Read More