Retrieval Practice – Be Deliberate
If you are not familiar, retrieval practice is what it sounds like, recalling information rather than reading or hearing it.
My Recent Work
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 …?
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 …?
Growing a Culture of Learning (Part 9 of 10) - Growing Learner Practice
Growing a Culture of Learning (Part 8 of 10) - Planting Intentionality
In Robert Thaler’s (2008) nudge theory, he tells us that we can organize context for learner decision-making and that small details impact behavior.
As teachers, how can we be intentional so that our learners become intentional? If we look at nudge theory and know that context is the setting, how do we set things up (intentionally) so that our culture is learner-centered?
As teachers, how can we be intentional so that our learners become intentional? If we look at nudge theory and know that context is the setting, how do we set things up (intentionally) so that our culture is learner-centered?
Growing a Culture of Learning (Part 7 of 10) - Learner Curiosity
What if we asked learners what they are curious about? What if they developed the focus questions for learning, even if we provided the topic? Tapping into learners’ curiosity helps deepen the connection to a topic and adds value to assignments.
Growing a Culture of Learning (Part 6) - Growing Learner Support
What do you need to put in place to make trust, a growth mindset and empowerment happen?
You’ve heard about the “gradual release of responsibility,” right? What if we think about it more like the gradual increase in responsibility? What would it take for that to happen with your learners?
You’ve heard about the “gradual release of responsibility,” right? What if we think about it more like the gradual increase in responsibility? What would it take for that to happen with your learners?
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