A friend recently asked me, “How do you continue your own learning?” I responded, “I read a lot.” I dedicate time every morning to my professional growth by reading an article or chapter in a book. This 30-minute […]
While coaching teachers this month, several expressed a desire to include review and practice activities in their station rotation lessons to help students prepare for end-of-the-semester assessments. Helping students review for an exam often takes the form of […]
A friend recommended Adam Grant’s podcast “Is it safe to speak up at work?” As I listened to this episode, I was thinking about the concept of psychological safety through my educator lens. My work focuses on supporting […]
The last two years have been mentally and emotionally exhausting for everyone in education. As I work with leadership teams, many are struggling to engage their teachers in professional learning this year. Schools invested money in purchasing devices […]
I have a soft spot for the station rotation model. It was one of the first models, along with the flipped classroom, that I could employ in my low-tech classroom. In the early days of my transition to […]
After reading Catlin Tucker’s blog post, 5 Strategies to Engage Learners Around Flipped Instruction, I was inspired to reflect on and revise a mini-unit I designed focusing on the short film Alike by Daniel Martinez Lara and Rafa […]
Teachers got a crash course in creating video content when schools shifted online. They relied on videos out of necessity to explain concepts and model strategies while students learned from home. As teachers transitioned back into classrooms, many […]
When I work with teachers shifting to blended learning, I strive to establish the WHY driving our work together. I want teachers to understand the purpose and value of the shift to blended learning. Blended learning is not […]
In our book UDL and Blended Learning, Dr. Katie Novak and I encourage teachers to work toward firm, often standards-aligned, goals. We also stress the importance of providing students with flexible means. All students can make progress toward […]
I had the pleasure of chatting with Matt Miller this week for my podcast, The Balance. During our conversation, we explored aspects of the teaching profession that are time-consuming and create work-life imbalance. One culprit is the mentality […]
Guest post written by Amy Tobener-Talley. September 8th is International Literacy Day, a great time to think about promoting a class culture that values reading. However, encouraging students to read in and out of class is challenging as […]
Learning is a dynamic process that requires active engagement. Unfortunately, many students have gotten comfortable in their roles as passive observers or consumers in the classroom. Yes, that is a less cognitively and socially taxing role, but it […]