With her students facing so many pandemic challenges, Michelle Russell decided to say ‘yes’ to as many requests as possible, whether it was late papers, school supplies, or a quick review minutes before a test. Here’s what the Florence High School math teacher discovered about the value of answering YES.
The pandemic has forced many of us to rethink and unlearn things we did and believed in before Covid. Yet, lest we become smug about the progress made, we need to “Think Again” – the title of a new book by behavioral scientist and popular author Adam Grant. Cathy Gassenheimer’s review helps us understand Grant’s contention that we become better educators and collaborators when we “know what we don’t know.”
As schools struggle to teach standards, prepare students for college and career readiness, maintain discipline, and hopefully teach and reinforce character, co-authors Jimmy Casas and Joy Kelly offer today’s educators a unique set of strategies for building strong cultures that help everyone work more effectively and respectfully to accomplish our challenging task. Dr. Stoney Beavers reviews Handle with Care.
In the COVID-19 pandemic era, paying attention to the whole child – including children’s social-emotional learning needs – has never been more urgent. Dr. Holly Morgan shares some of the work school teams in the PCN West professional learning network are doing to assure a school culture of safety, support and self-reliance that will help every child not only fly but soar.
Formative assessment guru Dylan Wiliam and education data science expert Kathleen Scalise offer a powerful three-part series on remote teaching and gauging student progress and background knowledge – featured in ASCD Express. Read Cathy Gassenheimer’s overview and find descriptive links to each article. While the advice focuses on digital teaching, much of it also can be applied in face-to-face learning.
Whether you are teaching remotely or face-to-face – or some of both – Glen Pearsall’s Tilting Your Teaching might help remind you of powerful yet easy ways to improve your students’ learning, writes Cathy Gassenheimer. Learn the seven research-based strategies that Pearsall believes should become habitual for novice and veteran teachers alike.
Looking for some easy ways to introduce “learner-driven” teaching practices in your classrooms? Cathy Gassenheimer found lots of good ideas in the recent Corwin title “Evolving Learner: Shifting from Professional Development to Professional Learning” by teacher educators Lainie Rowell, Kristy Andre, and Lauren Steinmann. She shares four of her favorites in this post!
Educators pride ourselves on making daily connections with our students, writes Jennifer Hutchison. When we found ourselves in virtual spaces, “our driving question became, how do I connect with a tiny green dot, with students who have their cameras turned off and who may or may not be sitting in the same room with their computer?” Hutchison, a veteran science teacher and PD specialist for Hudson-Alpha, shares some discoveries she made about effective engagement “in the ether.”
As you think about addressing learning loss, take some time to revisit what works best when we really need to get teaching right. Cathy Gassenheimer has been reading a new book that addresses this topic, Great Teaching by Design, by the powerhouse team of Hattie, Bustamante, Almarode, Fisher, and Frey. Check out her review and follow a link to watch an authors’ video highlighting key points.
“As an African American educator,” writes Dieatra Howie, A+ College Ready’s Social Studies Content Director, “I am proud of the rich heritage that we possess, and I encourage educators to embrace the opportunity afforded to them to make a difference in the lives of their students. The lessons that are taught this month and beyond can change the trajectory of an individual student’s life.”
