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Empowering Educators, Inspiring Learning
Teaching is an art and a science. Here, we explore strategies that foster engagement, equity, and student agency. Join the conversation and take your practice to the next level.
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As someone who regularly works with teachers on topics like blended learning, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and student-led learning, one recurring theme I encounter is control. There’s a pervasive fear among educators when it comes to releasing […]
The first and second blogs in this series focused on providing meaningful choices when students are acquiring information and making meaning. In this third and final installment of our “Would You Rather?” series, we will explore how we […]
In this second installment of our “Would You Rather?” series, we will delve into strategies for facilitating meaning-making in the classroom. Once students have had an opportunity to acquire information, how can we support them in transforming that […]
Imagine you’re at a new, highly recommended restaurant, eager to try what you’ve heard is an exceptional dining experience. As you sit down and open the menu, your excitement dims—you realize it’s a fixed menu with no options […]
A teacher recently asked me whether students always need to attend every station in a rotation. The short answer is “no.” Our classrooms are composed of diverse groups of students with different skills, abilities, preferences, language proficiencies, and […]
Choice boards are a fantastic tool for honoring learner variability and providing students with meaningful choices. Not every student enjoys the same task, so giving them options is critical to maximizing their motivation and focus in a lesson. […]
At a recent workshop, a teacher asked me why I would use the station rotation to facilitate small-group instruction instead of presenting to the whole class. This inquiry made me wonder: How many educators gather pre-assessment data before […]
Math is a linear subject, with each concept building on the one before. Math teachers are also responsible for covering a large number of standards in a school year. Most math curricula are designed for a whole group […]
In my last blog post titled “Part I: Maximize the Impact of Explicit Teaching with Blended Learning,” I explored the benefits of shifting from explicit teaching as a whole class experience to a differentiated small group experience. I […]
As a blended learning expert, I’ve worked with educators who sometimes mistakenly assume that blended learning means abandoning explicit teaching or explicit instruction. In this blog, I’ll explore how teachers can maximize the impact of explicit teaching when […]
In my last blog post titled Part I: Station Rotation Design Tip – Go Horizontal with Your Linear Agenda, I shared a strategy I refer to as “going horizontal” to help secondary teachers shift from traditional whole group, teacher-led […]
When Dr. Novak and I started writing our new book, Shift Writing into the Classroom, we anticipated that teachers outside of English Language Arts would take one look at the title and assume that the book was not […]