Is there a tool that helps students grow in confidence, content mastery, life skills, and joy — all at the same time, in any content area? While that laugh-worthy question sounds like something straight out of a snake oil sales pitch, believe it or not, I believe the answers is YES. That tool is pop-up […]
I’m Not Good at Much
Around this time of year, school leaders start thinking about next year’s PD. And so, I’d like to argue that when planning for next year, leaders should aim at giving their teachers permission to focus their professional improvement efforts on as few things as possible. A key to my teaching career so far is that […]
Students are Novices, and That’s Not a Bad Thing
In my last article, I argued that all students are novices. For some of you, this may have seemed “off.” After all, doesn’t this ignore the many ways in which our students are different? Doesn’t this pretend that each day we aren’t faced with daunting diversity in terms of our students’ prior knowledge, preparedness, interests, […]
The Expert Equation
What differentiates an expert from a novice? I unpack a few distinctions in the Principles of Learning Course. Looking at this list, it’s obvious to me that, though my classes contain a vast diversity of student strengths and interests and abilities and preparedness, they’re still all novices. (Because of this, one of the first recommendations […]
Great Ways to Learn with Colleagues
In my last article, I unpacked a powerful choir teacher’s lesson that I was privileged to witness not long ago. In this one, I want to give you an exclusive peak at one of the 40+ videos in the new Principles of Learning Course I’ve got available. This video lesson comes in the ninth module […]