Kathy S Dyer

5th May 2025

Agency and a Culture of Learning

Both choice and collaboration involve decision-making skills. When students understand themselves as learners, understand how to advocate and seek out what they need, they develop confidence in their own executive function and self-regulation ability (Murray, 2019). This is agency in the making. Teaching learners to make choices (decisions), express themselves (voice) and learn how to work with peers (collaborate) helps grow their sense of self-confidence (self-efficacy) as it relates to their capacity to be self-directed learners or learners with agency within a culture of learning.

5th May 2025

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28th April 2025

Feedback = Got It or Not Yet, Then What’s Next

What are some specific examples of effective feedback strategies that can be easily implemented in the classroom? How do we provide learners the information about where they are in their learning – the Got It, Not Yet and What’s Next?

As educators, we give feedback to students on their work all the time: in the moment, daily, weekly, and at the end of a unit or year. Research about formative assessment tells us that feedback is one of the foundational practices that make a difference in student learning. But how can we make sure the guidance we're providing is truly encouraging our students' learning and growth at each interval?

22nd April 2025

How About Classroom Reflective Practice?

Recently, Dr. Hayley Lewis wrote a piece on the importance of taking time to think and reflect. While focused on adults (leadership) and coaching, all I could think about were educational applications and reminders as I read Why Leaders Should Engage In Reflective Practice.

And as educators, when do we allow (plan) for learners to have that time to think and reflect regularly? What strategies or processes do we provide as a guide to learners thinking or reflecting as they are learning both strategies?

7th September 2024

Retrieval Practice – Be Deliberate

If you are not familiar, retrieval practice is what it sounds like, recalling information rather than reading or hearing it.

16th August 2024

Jamming to Create a Bank of Multiple-Meaning Words

Are you familiar with homonyms, homophones, homographs, and capitonyms? Multiple-meaning words can be used humorously or can cause confusion. Taking time to think about what we’re saying may make a difference to others.

Education Week • 5th April 2024

How to Make Summer School Effective and Engaging (Opinion)

Today’s post finishes up a two-part series on how to make summer school a place that students want to attend ...

The tag line of the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) Summer Changes Everything TM, says it all. As educators leading summer learning programs, we can keep kids learning, engaging and empowering students to finish the unfinished learning and to take

Teach. Learn. Grow. • 29th February 2024

75 digital tools and apps teachers can use to support formative assessment in the classroom

There is no shortage of formative assessment strategies, techniques, and tools available to teachers who use formative instructional practice in their classrooms. Here is an extensive list of 75 digital tools, apps, and platforms that can help you and your students use formative assessment to elicit evidence of learning.

28th September 2023

Peers As Instructional Resources

When was the last time you had the opportunity to learn with, from and for someone else? What was in place–environment, strategies, resources, time, etc. to make it happen? Jigsaw strategies provide different ways to support learners in being instructional resources for themselves and others. Three jigsaws to try include Expert, Pieces-Make-the-Whole and Building.

21st August 2023

6 AI Tools for Teachers’ Formative Assessment Practice

If you're wanting to strengthen your formative assessment practice and dip your toes into the AI pool, here are 6 tools you should check out.

edCircuit | Check-In Questions & Social Emotional Learning • 30th May 2023

Check-In Questions & Social Emotional Learning | edCircuit

I can get really excited about a good sketch note… particularly one drawn by someone else. Dr. Hayley Lewis is a psychologist who makes psychology accessible, often via her sketch notes. Recently she shared one about check-in questions on LinkedIn that 1) I thought was insightful and 2) made me immediately jump to checking in with kids.

edCircuit | Increasing Student Productivity With One Good Question • 23rd May 2023

Increasing Student Productivity With One Good Question

In a recent Harvard Business Review, the article “Ask This Question at Your Next Meeting” caught my attention. The author was focused on making meetings more useful and increasing productivity. What struck me was how asking this one question could boost self-reflection, engagement, and growth in the classroom. The question is: What are you stuck on?

edCircuit | Connecting SEL and Formative Instruction • 18th May 2023

Connecting SEL and Formative Instruction | edCircuit

To me, SEL and formative instructional practices are ways of being in a classroom, moving beyond the practice of “doing to” students to “doing with” (Purkey & Novak, 1996). It’s interesting that formative assessment skills draw on and build SEL skills, and these skill sets feed each other.

edCircuit | Relationships Foster Social Emotional Learning • 9th May 2023

Relationships Foster Social Emotional Learning | edCircuit

Trust is key for all relationships to reach their full potential. It’s no different in schools. Trust starts by building a relationship with your learners (and their families). What do you know about each as an individual? Quate and McDermott (2009) tell us “… that the development of a nurturing classroom community in which students are known well by both the teacher and their classmates matters…” Trust is gained when learners see that you know them and believe in them.

Education Week • 9th May 2023

Forget Taking a Hard Line. Try 'Soft Tactics' to Spark Student Motivation (Opinion)

Want to engage and empower learners to motivate themselves? Create opportunities for them to have voice and choice. We’ve learned that kids thrive in environments where their voice matters and they have choices in the learning process. There are many ways this can happen in a classroom when learning experiences are designed around what, who, where, when, how to learn, and how to demonstrate.

edCircuit | Supporting Social Emotional Environments • 25th April 2023

Supporting Social Emotional Environments | edCircuit

What makes kids, families, and communities feel safe? Builds their sense of well-being? Empowers them to thrive? Safe spaces for learning, whether inside a school building or out in the community, requires equitable social and emotionally friendly environments. As Jonathan Aldis (2019) from Stantec said, “We want spaces where students can practice for the future.”

edCircuit | How SEL Empowers Positive Learning • 11th April 2023

How SEL Empowers Positive Learning | edCircuit

What’s been your best learning experience? What made it the best experience for you? Like many others, the topic may have been personally relevant. You may have trusted the teacher or the environment where you were learning. You probably got to choose either the topic or another big experience aspect. Engaging in this learning and making choices about it probably empowered you.

edCircuit | Fostering A Culture Of Learning • 21st March 2023

Fostering A Culture Of Learning | edCircuit

What is a culture of learning? The Association for Talent Development (2023) says, “A culture of learning, or learning culture, is one in which employees continuously seek, share, and apply new knowledge and skills to improve individual and organizational performance.

Education Week • 15th March 2023

Teaching Is About the Messy Work of Being Human. Here's How to Embrace It (Opinion)

Being open to give new ideas a try and observing the “micro moves” of colleagues are just two of today’s educator’s recommendations for how teachers can improve their craft.

edCircuit | The Social Emotional Way of Being • 9th March 2023

The Social Emotional Way of Being | edCircuit

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has been a topic of conversation for decades, even before it was labeled SEL. The pandemic of 2020 caused SEL and the need for it to erupt from just beneath the surface into the minds of educators, parents, and the community.

edCircuit | 3 Tools Students Need To Tackle Injustice • 7th March 2023

3 Tools Students Need To Tackle Injustice | edCircuit

Generally, social justice refers to what’s fair and what’s not. Unfortunately, we often see injustices happen in our lives. Sometimes these activities register with us, and sometimes, they don’t. Injustice may be something like how a homeless person is treated or threatening the protected rights of national monuments. Knowing that there are multiple sides to any issue is also essential. Students need skills and knowledge to understand injustices and make change happen. Learning about social just

edCircuit • 22nd February 2023

Why Social Emotional Learning?

Many districts are supporting students in learning hard skills like coding, business management, and engineering. But are your students prepared for success? In my recent edCircuit article, I discuss how SEL creates lifelong skills for careers and communities of the future.

25th January 2023

Growing a Culture of Learning (Part 10 of 10) - The care & feeding of your culture of learning

Peter Senge (2006) said, “When teams are truly learning, not only are they producing extraordinary results, but the individual members are growing more rapidly than could have occurred otherwise.” That’s what happens when a culture of learning is growing!

To truly grow this culture you must commit, virtually or in person. At the end of each week, check in with yourself:
• What worked well this week and why?
• What was challenging and why?
• What might happen next week if …?

17th January 2023

Growing a Culture of Learning (Part 9 of 10) - Growing Learner Practice