I was on the phone with my dad today, which is our Wednesday tradition, and we were having a conversation about education. It’s pretty typical for me to share what I’m up to with teaching and learning, and he usually has some input. He’s an incredibly fiery and vocal guy, clocking in at 5’5”, so… Continue reading Turn Off the Scoreboard
Tag: student empowerment
The Power of Fantasy Novels
The shifts being made in literature, specifically young adult literature, in the past few years have been fantastic. While there are still huge gaps and underrepresentation, the direction it is headed is hopeful. The fantasy and dystopian genres, in particular, are doing an incredible job of shedding new light on current happenings in our world.… Continue reading The Power of Fantasy Novels
Learning from Student-Led Conferences
Last week, I had an interesting conference. For the past few years, our parent-teacher conferences have been student led. Our students spend time creating a presentation for their parents, complete with evidence of their learning, examples of work they’ve done, and rules they get to set for the 20 minutes they are in charge of… Continue reading Learning from Student-Led Conferences
Unconventional Teaching Practice: Grading Conferences
It’s no secret that I am a proponent of unconventional grading practices. In fact, I’ve written about the subject several times before. (Here, here, & here.) While I’ve been making the transition to a classroom that focuses less on points and percentages and hope to one day have a gradeless class, there’s been a returning… Continue reading Unconventional Teaching Practice: Grading Conferences
The Impact of Teachers Who Care
You hear a lot these days about the importance of building relationships with your students. It seems like a typical education ‘buzzword’, popping up in all the current blogs, Twitter chats, Instagram stories, and even research. While this concept is gaining popularity (or so it seems), I can tell you with 100% certainty that it… Continue reading The Impact of Teachers Who Care
Letting Go of Control in Your Classroom
When I talk to other teachers about personalized learning, I always share how difficult it was for me at the beginning (and sometimes it still is). There are always challenges with anything, especially when it’s new, and personalized learning is no different. This philosophy allows for a lot of student freedom, self-regulation, and choice, which… Continue reading Letting Go of Control in Your Classroom
What I Do in the First Week of School
The first week of school is a hectic one. No one is quite used to the new routine, everyone is still half in summer mode, and you’re busy trying to welcome and connect with a whole new group of students. There’s a lot of advice out there on those first few days, and people hold… Continue reading What I Do in the First Week of School
Indoctrination
Indoctrination is a powerful word. The concept of teaching a group of people to accept your beliefs without question has an air of force to it. So much so, that to think of it happening to you is kind of frightening. As of late, I’ve seen this word used in several accusations towards teachers, publicly… Continue reading Indoctrination
Curriculum Coffee 