A learner gets back a quiz with 86% stamped at the top. Eyes scan for red marks, shoulders shrug, paper folds into a binder pocket or balled up and tossed into the trach can. End of story. But where’s the learning story? What did they understand? Where did the wheels wobble? What’s the very next
What Does an 86% Really Tell a Learner? Read More »
The start of the school year has a way of stirring something in us. The floors shine like possibility. The dry erase boards are blank but heavy with hope. Fresh rosters. New names. Maybe even a couple of new teammates. But there’s one more thing showing up with us in the room this year. It’s
This Year: Decide, Design & Deploy… Daily Read More »
There’s a difference between assigning work and designing learning. You feel it the second you walk into a classroom humming with energy, where the noise isn’t chaos. It’s cognition. Where learners aren’t just finishing tasks. They’re doing the work of learning. We’ve all stood in front of a class and handed out something to be
Tasks That Teach: Why Designing for Learning Matters More Than Assigning for Grades Read More »
Let’s be honest. We’ve been lifting the weight of learner learning like it’s ours to carry. Dragging it from the front of the room to the back, holding it up over our heads while simultaneously writing objectives on the board, answering emails, updating our gradebook, and reminding Dylan for the 47th time to “get started.”
The Power of Progressive Success Criteria Read More »
Educators, A new school year stretches out in front of you: blank, buzzing, and brimming with possibility. There are new notebooks waiting to be cracked open, fresh seating charts filled with unfamiliar names, and lesson plans that feel more like drafts than blueprints. The energy is there. The uncertainty is too. But before you brace
A New Year, A New Frame: You’re Not Teaching. You’re Engineering Learning Read More »
“What if we walked into this new school year knowing beyond all doubt that our kids will learn at high levels because of OUR design decisions for their learning?” Not a possibility. Not a goal. A certainty. What if we didn’t just cross our fingers and hope the first day would go well? What if
What If We Believed Learning Was Inevitable? Read More »
Every morning, we step into our classrooms with more than a lesson plan in hand. We carry the immense opportunity and responsibility of designing learning that matters. Tier 1 instruction isn’t some buzzword reserved for the pages of our SIP or for evaluation frameworks. It’s what we do every single day for every single learner.
Three Tier 1 Necessities for the New Year Read More »
Teaching isn’t hard because it’s bad work. It’s hard because we’ve piled it high with the kind of work that doesn’t work. Work that looks good on a lesson plan, sounds good at a board meeting, and feels good on paper, but leaves teachers running on fumes by fourth period on a Tuesday. We keep
Stop Breaking Teachers: The Power of Doing Work That Works Read More »
Picture a school where learners thrive. Not because one teacher pulls a miracle. Not because a test score spike looks good. But because the system was built for it. Where collaboration isn’t an initiative but a norm. Where expectations are high and clear and consistent. Where the good stuff happens on purpose, not by accident.
Build the System. Guarantee the Win. Stop Chasing Success and Start Engineering It Read More »
The year’s winding down. The bulletin boards are starting to come down. Desks are being cleaned out. Awards are being handed out. And for a few fleeting moments, it’s quiet. But before we rush off to the lake or start planning PDs for next year, I want to ask a simple, but loaded, question: What
The Work That Works: A Year-End Reflection for Educators Read More »
