Thoughts on 21st Century Teaching and Learning
It happened just nowMaybe not for the first time, but it felt like it. I saw across time. I peeked into a moment that has yet to happen. I glanced at the future that had become now. She found a friend, and forgot about me quickly. She walked off without a word. And I wanted that embrace. But I didn’t […]
I met a middle school math teacher while I was a tech coach at a PK-12 international school that scoffed at my suggest of using a digital portfolio with his students. He didn’t consider himself the “portfolio type.” He mentioned, “after tests, we go over the answers most commonly missed, and any questions, and that’ll […]
Save Time. Boost Impact. Stay Safe.One of the things that was always a struggle for me was giving rich, timely feedback to my students on their work. It just takes time to review the work and give everyone that feedback in a meaningful way. Of course, giving students quality feedback is a critical step in […]
Don’t Click Unknown Links in Emails It sounds simple, but it’s one of the most important habits you can build: never click a link in an email unless you’re absolutely sure it’s safe. Phishing emails are getting sneakier. Some look like they’re from your school, your tech department, or even your principal. But one rogue […]
Years ago, I remember working with a Grade 6 language arts teacher in a coaching cycle. She was frustrated with the lackluster book reports she was getting from her students. She was inspired to rethink her approach after a school wide PD on Universal Design for Learning (UDL). She had always felt intuitively that student-centered […]
When I first started planning our school’s annual mini-conference three years ago, I had one simple goal: to create opportunities for our teachers to connect with other educators beyond our school walls. I knew that meaningful professional growth often comes from fresh conversations, new perspectives, and seeing great teaching in action. And if it were […]
Where to begin? Six months ago feeling really low amidst the ongoing pandemic and aching to shift from surviving to thriving? Three months ago trying to articulate a vision? Three weeks ago really digging into the development of this project? Or last Friday after its first incarnation. A first step towards something, dare I say, […]
My school’s Head has encouraged all of us to make use of the question formulation technique and really encouraged our students and ourselves to ask good questions. In our social studies classes our students learn to ask questions about history and society. Our science lessons prompt questions about worms, stars, lactose and our diet. I’ve […]
The Challenge of Exiting International Teaching In 2008, my wife and I were ready for a new experience. We had been living in a vibrant neighborhood in Chicago, and while we weren’t rolling in dough, we both were making enough to enjoy our child-free twenties. However, we also both felt a bit stuck. I’d been […]
Our first year of instructional coaching is now midway through. Our student centered coaching model, based on Diane Sweeney’s work, has, at its heart, the collection of evidence of learning to respond to the specific student needs. Data. You might think that means it would be easy to measure the impact of our coaching. I […]