(Guest blog, Timothy Montalvo) Tim Montalvo is an assistant principal at Fox Lane Middle School in Bedford, New York, and an adjunct professor at Iona University and The College of Westchester. A former social studies teacher and teacher leader, Tim’s work centers on middle-level education, belonging, student voice, literacy, inclusive practice, and Tier 1 systems […]

Resourcefulness, resilience, and collaboration are critical mindsets, and skill sets, for students to develop. For schools to support those outcomes, educators must have the opportunity to develop the same. Mitch Weisburgh, the author of, “Mindshifting: Stop Your Brain from Sabotaging Your Happiness and Success,” explores the importance and possibilities. What’s the role of wellbeing and […]

Jonathan Haidt’s, “The Happiness Hypothesis,“ presents a helpful metaphor for coaching: the elephant and the rider. The elephant symbolizes our emotional, intuitive self—the instinctive reactions that show up when a lesson flops, a student refuses to engage, or a new initiative feels overwhelming. The rider represents our rational, planning, problem-solving self that sets goals, analyzes […]

The authors of, “High Five to Thrive: 5 Proven Practices to Unleash Your Passion for Teaching” share their strategies to assist teachers to experience thriving in teaching. Their strategies tackle these issues: A loss of purpose – Is the passion that once fueled you fading? A feeling of hopelessness – Have you ever felt like no matter […]

Here is a slide that I frequently display at the start of facilitating a learning opportunity for school leaders, instructional coaches, and teachers. I personalize the statement with a look at myself. “There is no mountaintop in learning mastery as an educator. One needs not worry about reaching mastery prior to retirement. Having passed the […]

In part 1 of this blog, I examined emotional feedback that supports student’s feelings, confidence, and mindset—how they feel about learning, themselves, and the task. In part 2, I explored behavioral feedback that supports actions and habits, addressing effort, participation, and behaviors related to learning. Here in part 3, I’ll focus on cognitive feedback supporting […]