Below are two lesson anchor charts from a pair of elementary classrooms. In one classroom, the students are having a lesson on finding the main idea. In the other, they are listening to the teacher read the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. Here are my questions. Knowing that we lack all kinds of context, answer […]
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Motivation is Heavily Affected by K-12 Curricula, Too
When I speak or write or teach about motivation, I focus on what classroom teachers like me can control. This is a basic assumption of my work: I’m better off working at what I can affect than I am fixating on matters I don’t control. And after all, the research is clear: student motivation is […]
Is Classroom Management Icky? And Does It Even Matter for This Fall?
A week or so ago, I was having a conversation with Lynsay Fabio, the main author on our Classroom Management Course. If you’re unfamiliar with it, the CMC is (we think) the straightest, quickest path to understanding and practicing the fundamentals of managing student behavior. And one of the reasons we’re confident in its quality […]
(Video) Guiding Students through a Simple Test Anxiety Reduction Activity
This afternoon, my students took the world’s first-ever AP World History: Modern assessment, and they did so from their cars and homes and wherever else they’ve figured out how to get Wifi. Needless to say, there is plenty that they’re bound to be anxious about. Thankfully, the research evidence on test anxiety is that even […]
Shouldn’t We Just Have Students Teach Themselves?
Recently, my family purchased an inexpensive used piano. My wife and children have all had piano lessons from someone who knows how to teach piano. Thanks to good teaching plus good practice, they are at various stages in the mastery process. But honestly, my children haven’t always loved practicing the piano, and my wife didn’t […]