Are we tapping? Our principal recently asked us to reflect on the purpose of grades. I have already done quite a bit of thinking about this topic. I have some very strong opinions about grades. I thought I already had an answer but then I realized that what he was really asking was about what […]
A Public Thank You!
I was recently awarded a Rowland fellowship to implement a dynamic personal learning system in my school. I am so proud to have been honored by the Rowland foundation. As I stated in my application for the fellowship, I have literally been waiting for this opportunity (although I didn’t know it would look like this) […]
How to Succeed as a DIY Learner?
Changing Mindsets About Online Courses Many people argue that Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC’s) have failed because completion rates are so low. I would argue that we are just beginning to learn how to personalize learning by using all the resources we now have in our digital lives. Many schools are formalizing this process for […]
Common Core Math Practices and Classdojo
I have been doing some more work with running groups in a geometry classroom this year. We have introduced a set of skills that are closely related to the common core math practices. We identified skills such as constructing viable arguments from the common core and described what this might look like when students are […]
Back to School Planning for the First Month
One of the biggest mistakes teachers make when they land their first job is that they spend their summers planning for the curriculum that they are passionate about teaching. I love this quote by Eric Jensen that illustrates this mistake well. So, in the first weeks of school, focus on developing a solid culture of […]
No Fear Teaching; public schools without grades
One of the most important skills great teachers possess is the ability to take risks. As a mentor to new teachers, I always encourage “no fear” teaching, with common sense of course. What I mean by that is teaching intuitively and being very careful not to avoid implementing innovative ideas for fear of, well, anything. […]
The math teacher who failed math? Improving math “self-esteem” through group work
Photo courtesy of thegoldguys.blogspot.com/ As an elementary school student, I attended a Montessori school and I remember playing with math manipulatives and talking about math. I had no idea if I was behind developmentally or not and I never thought about it either. When I began attending public school in third grade, I immediately […]
Got Reluctant Readers?
I don’t know about everyone else but we have a pervasive problem with students refusing to read on their own time. This causes a problem once they come back to class because they can’t participate and you can see how that spirals into some very unsuccessful lessons and makes it very difficult to do group […]
Gamification in Book Discussions
As we continue to struggle with student engagement, gamification has become an intriguing way to make a boring activity more enticing to 21st century learners. We used this game with 11th grade students reading One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest , by Ken Kesey in hopes of increasing their level of participation during book […]