I don’t know about you, but I blinked twice and the 2021-22 school year is about to be over. These last two months seem to be packed with testing, activity, end-of-year responsibilities and everything else, it can be hard to keep up. But, at some point, when things begin to settle for a moment I […]
Reflecting on the Practice Read More »
For this post, I wanted to send out a practical tool for everyone to use, dig into learning with and see the potential that design has to grow our students’ learning. Clicking HERE, you will find a document with a lesson framework I developed for my staff several years ago. What I was attempting to do
Practical and FREE Learning Design Tool Read More »
In order to understand this reason, we have to think more along the lines of the process of teaching itself is not preparing students for the future rather than the content knowledge. No one will argue that in order to learn 4th grade math content, students must have been prepared by content from 3rd grade
Reason #4 to Quit Teaching: Teaching Does Not Prepare Students, Not Really Read More »
We have ALL been there. Sitting in a room of our peers. Listening to a presenter while watching a Powerpoint. Even worse, listening to a presenter read directly from the Powerpoint. All the while, we have lessons to plan, parents to call, papers to grade and the million other things that come daily with being
Make Professional Learning/Development an Active Learning Experience Read More »
When we drill down standards to what students’ learning expectations are in the classroom, we are really talking about them learning how to “do” something. Learning to do whatever skill the standards are asking of them, leads to knowledge and learning, so when we want to improve student engagement in the classroom, the first place
5 Ways to Ensure Your Learning is Engaging Students Read More »
We all want it. Leaders and teachers chase it daily in every classroom. But, the secret is that it is hiding in plain sight. Always has been. If that is the case, what does it take to bring out that student engagement we are all constantly looking for? It takes designing for learning. You are
Stop Chasing Student Engagement- There’s a Better Way Read More »
My journey as a teacher is much like most out there. We all went to college, we learned content and strategies, we student taught. After that, we were turned loose in a classroom of our very own, responsible for the education of anywhere from 20-120 students. And what did we do when we had our
Our Job is Not To Be TEACHERS, But LEARNING ENGINEERS Read More »
We talk about what learning looks like in the classroom for students, about targets and what qualities define successful mastery of a concept. We pour these qualities into our instructional designs and lessons to maximize learning and ensure acceleration, equity and most of all learning is taking place. We know it works. We know students
Success Criteria: It’s Not Just for Students Anymore! Read More »
For this week’s thoughts on quitting teaching to start designing learning, bear with the following metaphor with me. Right now, students line up outside of classroom doors in a vertical line, one behind the other. Those in the front are much closer to the classroom door, much closer to the learning about to take place
Quitting Teaching is About EQUITY for Students Read More »
Just a brief visual overview of what typical teaching and learning look like side-by-side. Write to me for tools and assistance in how to transform your classroom or school.
Teaching vs Learning Read More »
