Classroom observations can become overly focused on our unconscious bias toward traditional signs of quality teaching and learning. Observers can focus on teaching moves and the appearance of engagement but miss what matters most: are students making sense of the learning. Experienced educator, Dr. Michael McDowell shares the need to “flip” our view in observation […]

Most teachers recognize that students must pass through discomfort to grow. When learners are challenged with new ideas, unfamiliar skills, or tasks that stretch beyond their current ability, it’s natural for them to feel uncertain, frustrated, or even resistant. This discomfort is not a sign that something is wrong. It’s a signal that real learning […]

“The most significant change that a teacher can make, is to focus more on what you want your students to learn, (and how you’re going to help them to learn it), rather than on what you intend to teach. It’s about student outcomes rather than teacher objectives, and they are not the same thing.” Liz […]

Instructional coaches’ time spent scheduling assessments to gather data, entering the data, interpreting the data, distributing the data, and reviewing the data with teachers can be met with teachers responding with less than an enthusiastic ear. “ …some teachers actually refer to data as ‘ the other four letter word’—time being the first one. Teachers […]

School leaders’ own engagement and modeling of AI is important to support teachers in successfully initiating AI opportunities for teaching and learning. How can instructional coaches introduce and model AI use in their coaching activities with teachers? What might a school or district position statement on AI contain? Technology and design leaders from the Chester […]

At each end and start of the calendar year, I take a break from posting a new blog and provide a revisit to some of my thinking that has appeared across the years. This blog focuses on some history. The following video (6 minutes) provides a look at my initial experiences with coaching; from my […]