The end of a school year is often treated as closure. Yet for learners, it is also a transfer point. Students leave carrying far more than content knowledge and grades. They carry beliefs about themselves as learners, strategies that helped them succeed, habits they developed, and questions they still hold about their abilities. During the […]

Tim Smyth, a high school teacher, shares his strategies for regularly surveying his students to build valuable connections. Hear some of the questions and approaches that tap information about his students. Tim has experienced knowing students better, having students know him, and at times knowing students who need emotional help. Instructional coaches can use Tim’s […]

When a teacher is planning a learning activity, what’s the movie that’s running in their mind? Are they mostly seeing what they are doing as a teacher or what their learners are doing? When teachers, like athletic and performing arts coaches, focus on the student learning actions they modify instructional moves as soon as recognizing […]

In part 1 of this blog, examined emotional feedback that supports student’s feelings, confidence, and mindset—how they feel about learning, themselves, and the task. In part 2 I’ll explore behavioral feedback that supports actions and habits, addressing effort, participation, and behaviors related to learning. It can target: Work habits (focus, effort, persistence) Collaboration and communication […]

Hear a principal’s firsthand experience in facilitating a staff’s implementation of standards-based grading. Explore some of the “bumps” and how they worked through them. “There were bumps everywhere. We shifted the ground between kids and families’ feet. Most of us go through school with the same grading systems our parents did. This was no different. […]