Dr. Jeffrey Wilhelm and I were recently asked by educator and author Larry Ferlazzo to respond to the question: HOW CAN WE KEEP STUDENTS ENGAGED WITHOUT CARROTS & STICKS? My response originally appeared at Education Week here and was cross posted at my blog. Becoming a father and making the transition to teaching primary students (as a...
Dr. Tae – Can Skateboarding Save Our Schools?: It’s one of the best presentations on assessment and grading I have seen, and with skateboarding as the metaphor…well, it’s all the more …rad! Here are the highlights from Dr. Tae! “nobody knows ahead of time how long it takes anyone to learn anything” “skateboarders find school...
Cheating is a plague upon schools across our nation, and it appears to be on the rise. During my time visiting schools, 21 in all, private and public, during my 2008 good high school blogging project, I saw often observed cheating– sometimes blatant, “public,” shameless cheating in front of me. But as severe...
Cross posted on Burlington High School Principal’s Blog Please take the 5:31 to watch the short clip above from a Will Richardson talk at Proctor Academy. I think it is imperative that all school communities spend some significant time reflecting upon their purpose and whether or not the things they are doing in their classrooms...
“Some organizations incubate companies – we incubate people. The mission of the Sandbox Network is to accelerate young leaders and help them have a global impact before they become 30.” http://www.sandbox-network.com/ “Imagine if a country’s assessment system measured the growing impact a young person has had on sustainability, environmental responsibility, equity or...
Students in our Space Technology class at Gahanna Lincoln High School just completed a space simulation in which they were asked to design a rover that would complete specific tasks. In years past, they would do a space shuttle simulation. But this year, science teacher, Fred Donelson (@mrdglhs) changed things up a bit to simulate the landing...
I am constantly challenged to consider what we need to throw out from our assumed daily practices as teachers. If we come to the topic through the lens of making choices that maximize deep and passionate learning for students, then I have come to the conclusion that there is very little that will survive...
It has been almost a year since I made the statement to my staff that I do not want them to assign a zero to any student until they intervene in some way (ask the student why the work wasn’t turned it, call the parent of the student, do something besides assigning a zero...
” My dilemma is that I don’t know how should I grade/evaluate them? Actually, no, that’s not the issue. The real problem I’m having is that I just don’t know why I should.” ~@royanlee~ My son Ben and his two...
Over the past several months, there have been a number of posts and articles about evaluating teachers in K-12 education. And in just the last few days, the media in British Columbia has been floating the idea of yearly teacher evaluations. Whether something like this happens or not in BC, I find that I...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/414334153/sizes/m/in/photostream/ Last year, one of my teachers, named Nancy, poked her nose into my office with an impish look on her face. She said, “I know you’re busy, but I just HAVE to tell you about what happened with my class this morning.” Nancy had taken a group of students, aged 7-9, to do...
Our school recently underwent our accreditation process and reviewed the foundational documents that direct the vision for our school. As a school, we decided to use the Middle States Association’s, “Excellence by Design” protocol to drive this process and I am happy to report that our school has improved our planning ethic and successfully...
At a 5th and 6th grade track meet last spring, my school was responsible for coordinating the discus event. Saturday was a cold, cloudy, and windy day. It was one of those days where the temperature is 50 degrees, so you are expecting a reasonably cool spring day. However, when you step outside, the...
I know that the summer months are a great time for reflection, but I also know that many of us are thinking ahead to the start of our school year. I wanted to share an activity called, The Marshmallow Challenge, that has been popularized by Tom Wujek’s Ted talk called, “Build a Tower, Build...
Photo: http://peterharrisonphotography.smugmug.com/ Self Determination Theory research has consistently demonstrated that more autonomous forms of motivation are associated with a host of positive outcomes from greater academic performance, creativity, and persistence, to enhanced learner wellness. ~Richard Ryan & Netta Weinstein~ Like most educators I look upon high stakes testing not unlike the way passing drivers...
As educators, we are often faced with an opportunity to take the easy road or the hard road. The easy road often works for us as parents, teachers, and administrators but it rarely works for kids. The difficult road may be an immediate challenge and take much more time and effort but this is...
Several months ago, after much reflection, examination of school data, and conversations with a few teachers, I proclaimed to my staff that I did not want them to assign a zero to any student until they intervene in some way; talk with the student to find out why they did not turn in the...
“Put yourself in a fixed mindset. Your ability is on the line. Can you feel everyone’s eyes on you? Can you see the instructor’s face evaluating you? Feel the tension, feel your ego bristle and waver. What else are you thinking and feeling? Now put yourself in a growth mindset. You’re a novice—that’s why...
Talking with Daniel Pink about Motivation, Engagement and Education continued from Part One On one of our snowed in nights this winter I had the opportunity to speak with Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Surprisingly he was snowed in at his location in Washington D.C. as well. ...
What’s in a grade? This is a question that I ask myself almost everyday, if not actually everyday. Recently, my learning partner, Synergy co-teacher, PLC co-director, and fellow faculty member – all one person…Jill Gough – posted this important system of inquiries about grades. The original post can be found at her primary blog...
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