Topic: Teaching & Learning
Engaged...Equipped…Empowered
They are self-directed learners with responsibility for their own learning. Martinez and McGrath (2013) identified three commonalities in developing self-directed learners. These were: disrupting traditional expectations of teaching and learning; socializing students into a school culture signaling the expectations for learners; and using a consistent pedagogical approach in which students... Read the full article >
Building Personalized Learning Environments
The idea of creating environments that are learner-centered sounds attractive. However, developing a culture around learners and building systems to support learner-centered environments takes time and a process. Most teachers join the teaching profession to make a difference in children’s lives. Then reality sets in with their daily practices when... Read the full article >
Creating Learning Environments that Work for Kids
Marie was the kind of pre-service teacher who believed that, in her future classroom, anything would be possible — and who made you believe it, too. We taught Marie in a class on differentiated instruction during her last semester of coursework before she began her teaching career. The following fall,... Read the full article >
The New Teacher Leader Model Standards: Teacher Leaders are Here, But Do Our Schools Know What to do With Us?
Several years ago I was invited to address a group of participants in an Administrators’ Academy held at a local university. At the time I was president of a large school district union and was also one of the first National Board Certified teachers in my area. The instructor asked... Read the full article >
Teaching for the Future: Creating the Teaching Profession that 21st-Century Students Deserve
Many reformers propose a “superhero fix” for our highest-need schools, placing young recruits in challenging classrooms for just a few years. However well-intentioned, it’s a solution that dodges the real problem: teaching in the 21st century is complex, challenging work. And we need millions of well-prepared, highly savvy teachers who... Read the full article >
Meaningful Learning: Wellness as Preparation for College Success
By definition, when we prepare people, we are making them ready for use. With regard to education, the fundamental question should be, “what is the use for which we are preparing learners?” The answer to this basic question challenges teachers, administrators and parents and therefore, it is too often side... Read the full article >
Engaging Students for Sustained Learning
Students in the 21st century are continuously bombarded with the requirements of curriculum content, standards, and technological expectations that extend beyond what most of us were prepared to teach. Never before have there been so many questions about what is essential to learn, within such a short amount of time... Read the full article >
Whole Brain Teaching: Learning the Way the Brain is Designed
For a new teacher going into your first classroom is a prospect that is both exciting and frightening. Training and practical experience under the tutelage of professors and experienced teachers is all well and good, but those people are not with you when you walk into that room and look... Read the full article >