Amidst all the hoopla about Common Core standards, and how to teach the lessons so students are ready for the new assessments, there is a quiet but very significant understanding that underlies all the standards. This key value, which all the standards are designed to achieve, is proficient practice. The standards want the students to…
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In November 2010, the U.S. Department of Education released the National Education Technology Plan. As we’ve mentioned in earlier Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 this plan is a broad vision for schools and districts to implement technology for learning. In this post, we will look more closely at the implications in the Plan for infrastructure…
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Ever since I was in teacher training classes in college many decades ago, there has been a raging debate about whether education should be Teacher-Centered or Student-Centered. There is some research both ways. But I would like to suggest that the answer is NEITHER. The Teacher-Centered Approach To arrive at this conclusion, we have to…
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TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE HOMEWORK…That is the question! The amount of homework students are given differs greatly across grade levels and states. Some students are given hours of work while other students are assigned little or no work to be done at home. So what’s appropriate? What is the purpose of homework? What…
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In November 2010, the U.S. Department of Education released the National Education Technology Plan. As we’ve mentioned in earlier Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 this plan is a broad vision for schools and districts to implement technology for learning. In this post, we will look more closely at the big ideas for assessment…
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In a previous post, we discussed the first five ways that Common Core lessons are different from the traditional approach teachers have used. What we saw was that Common Core doesn’t look different to the casual observer in a classroom, but from a teacher’s point of view, it is dramatically different. The big difference is…
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In November 2010, the U.S. Department of Education released the National Education Technology Plan. As we’ve mentioned in earlier Part 1 and Part 2, this plan is a broad vision for schools and districts to implement technology for learning. In this post, we will look more closely at the big ideas for assessment in the…
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The Primacy/Recency Effect In a previous article, we discussed the method in which the brain processes new information, as well as how this can be leveraged to improve student achievement in the classroom. Today’s article will expand on this by examining how to maximize students’ retention of information by being aware of the ideal timing…
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Mr. Smith, the principal, walks into teacher Ann Lassen’s fifth- grade classroom to observe the class. He sees Mrs. Lassen presenting information to the class. Sometimes she uses PowerPoint, sometimes a document camera, and sometimes she just talks. He sees the students actively engaged in discussing the lesson and practicing what they are learning. Afterwards,…
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Making a Difference In my experience, there are three types of teachers walking on to campus for their first day of school this month and each has a distinctly different focus: Creating a Good Learning Environment Teacher A spent the last four weeks of summer vacation organizing and decorating her classroom. She sat in front…
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