I have been thinking a lot about what classroom management looks like in a time when we want students to direct their own learning; creativity and collaboration are imperative; projects and performance assessments are the center of instruction; and technology is ever present. Many of the strategies we have used to manage classrooms from the past will still be relevant. …
Pitfalls of Running Groups
Pitfalls of running groups Teachers and students alike have experienced unproductive groups and so they are reluctant to run groups. The reality is that groups are likely to fail unless they are structured to be productive. Below are some common pitfalls of running groups and solutions to those problems. 1. No positive interdependence structured There must be a common group …
ClassDojo and The Common Core
As a high school special educator, I have had the opportunity to work with English and math teachers using ClassDojo to teach and reinforce the common core standards. ClassDojo has been gaining popularity as a classroom management tool, but its uses go beyond simple tracking of behaviors for the sake of classroom management. As we implement the common core standards, …
7 Ideas for Planning a Memorable School Interview
One of the main parts of a school interview is the practice lesson plan. It is a place where you can really show the interview team what you can do. For the interview team it is what they will remember most, so it is important to do it well. Below are 7 ideas for creating a lesson that will show …
4 Easy, Non-Academic Ways to Increase Student Achievement
There is quite a bit of recent research pointing to the idea that psychological interventions in learning environments can have a great impact on achievement. Eric Jensen summarizes some of this evidence in his article Your Students’ Number One Life Skill. While the idea of social emotional learning is complex, there are some easy ways to implement these ideas in …