I currently teach our high school’s first sections of AP World History. These are the first “advanced” courses I’ve taught in my nine years of teaching. Also, for various reasons, this course is open to ninth graders only. This is a challenging situation. Two ways to shake it Every single year in the classroom — […]
“Everyone Knows One-and-Done PD Doesn’t Work”
I hear this sometimes: “Everyone knows one-and-done PD is bad.” Here are three reasons that I think the thinking behind this line could be improved. 1. If it’s true, then a recent study of 10,000 teachers suggests that “everyone” is wrong. One of the chief findings of a recent study on teacher professional development is that effective PD is pretty idiosyncratic. Basically, […]
“How Long Do You Spend Grading Articles of the Week?”
“Dave, how long do you spend grading articles of the week?” I sometimes hear that question, or at least I see it written on the faces of people who start doing the math when I tell them about Kelly Gallagher’s article of the week (AoW) assignment. The assignment: Students read, purposefully annotate, and write a one-page response to an assigned article […]
“Vision Without Execution is Hallucination”
When my students asked me for my words of wisdom earlier this month, I gave them a line from Thomas Edison: “Vision without execution is hallucination.” The vision part tends to be easy, for both my students and me. The execution part is harder; it’s also where the magic happens. Vision is easier than execution: two examples from […]
How to Stop “Likes,” “Ums,” and Other Distracting Speaking Behaviors
Part of quality speaking instruction — particularly speech delivery instruction — is helping students eliminate their distracting speech behaviors. If you’re familiar with Erik Palmer’s PVLEGS acronym for speech delivery (a must-use, in my opinion), such behaviors are Poise issues. Here are some of the distracting habits my kids bring into their pop-up debates and small group discussions each year: Fillers (“like,” […]