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After my recent article on the magicality of pop-up debates, some colleagues wrote in with a common question regarding students who can’t participate in pop-up debate. I do sometimes receive documentation—a 504 plan, an IEP, or a note from a doctor or counselor—that excuses a student from public speaking situations in the classroom. At the […]

Note from Dave: I’m currently taking inquiries for PD visits to schools for the spring, summer, and fall. To get an idea of the topics I cover, head here. If you’re a PD decision-maker or on a team that decides PD, use this form to be in touch. I’d love to explore coming to your […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]