I had another one of my enjoyable experiences of finding what initially seemed like disconnected pieces of information overlapping in an insight. The initial seed was a news broadcast about people disconnecting from technology through the Offline Club. The clip featured a two-hour gathering at sundown with a simultaneous phone shut off. While no phones […]

Years back, before I used the term student learning production behaviors, I was attracted to Phil Schlechty’s mandate that we needed to “work on the work.”  The Schlechty Center continues that focus today in one of its ten System’s Capacity Standards. “STANDARD 3: DEVELOPING A FOCUS ON STUDENTS AND ON THE QUALITY OF WORK PROVIDED […]

Elementary principal, Haley Beavert, created a program trading required mandatory faculty meetings for optional learning opportunities. She identifies the strategy as an example of de-implementation. The program, called “Feed Your Brain,” has teachers organizing learning opportunities for professional development which has now expanded to other schools in the district. Read Haley’s article, “Give Teachers Agency […]

Sparks are skills, talents, or interests that one finds deeply motivating. Students who get joy and energy from using their sparks and learn valuable life skills from their sparks are more likely to do well in school, be more engaged, and be more hopeful about the future. Identify a process that you can use to […]

 Acceleration and equity require teachers to provide ALL students with engagement in on grade-level or above, complex learning tasks. Too little or too much scaffolding prevents students from gaining the needed learning opportunities. Consider when you might be rescuing students rather than scaffolding. Consider why just-in-time scaffolding is important. Read the article, “Just-in-Time vs […]

Phyllis Fagell, parent, school counselor, private therapist, and author shares insights for parenting with Tweens (ages 10-14). She combines her personal experiences with research findings to support the engagement of tweens in conversation when at times they appear to be disinterested. Several “myths” are uncovered. Visit Phyllis’ website here.  Follow Phyllis on Twitter: @Pfagell Subscribe […]