Professional Learning Blog
Let’s All Give Extra Thanks to Our Alabama Teachers This Week
As we look across Alabama today and see the personal sacrifices so many teachers are making as they work to help students reach their full potential, it’s important to underscore how critical their work is. Research shows that access to a high quality teacher is the most important variable in student learning. Teachers deserve our thanks and appreciation. The next time you see a teacher, writes Cathy Gassenheimer, thank them for ALL they do.
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A New Resource to Help Students Thrive: Social Emotional Learning and the Brain
Looking to add to your SEL toolkit? Marilee Sprenger’s new ASCD book can be a valuable resource, writes Cathy Gassenheimer. Stress will be with us even after Covid-19, and learning how to manage it is a critical tool for a long and successful life. Cathy highlights several easy-to-implement tips to promote students’ social-emotional health.
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Register Now! Join Dr. Doug Reeves Online This Saturday for the 3rd Alabama Conference on Grading and Assessment for Learning
Registration is open for the 3rd Annual Alabama Conference on Grading and Assessment for Learning, taking place online this Saturday – November 7 – with national assessment-for-learning expert Dr. Douglas Reeves as the keynote speaker. REGISTER NOW and read a personal message from Dr. Reeves. We’ve also included links to more details about the conference. We hope you’ll join us for this deep dive into how we grade and assess our students.
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The Dawning of a Radical Idea: Most People, Deep Down, Are Helpful and Kind
Social historian Rutger Bregman suggests that “if we believe most people are decent and kind, everything changes.” In his new book Humankind, he explores contemporary research on evolutionary history and concludes that human success is rooted in our ability to team up and care for each other. Cathy Gassenheimer sees the same pattern in this year’s KLN study book Coherent School Leadership and in the response of Alabama educators to the pandemic.
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