Engage Every Student with ‘Pull a Stick’
A Strategy for Engaging Every Student
From Incorrect to Correct: The Power of Effective Feedback
As educators, we all encounter moments when students struggle to answer questions correctly. So, what can we do when they don’t get it right? How can we help them move from confusion to clarity? The answer lies in effective feedback when checking for understanding.
A New Take on Classroom Observations
“There are two types of Principals. One who focuses on Operations or one who focuses on Instruction. You want to be an Instructional Leader if you want to change instruction and ultimately classroom results.” –John Hollingsworth, Co-Author of Explicit Direct Instruction Administrators Can Become More Effective Instructional Leaders Instructional Leadership programs usually involve a series…
The Death of Homework
How Chat AI will end homework and make classroom instruction more important Let’s begin with the purpose of homework; Educators assign homework for different reasons and purposes. Homework is assigned either as practice, preparation, extension, or integration of grade-level skills and concepts. Practice Homework reinforces learning from the skills and concepts already taught in the classroom.…
Learning Objectives vs Standards
Learning ObjectivesvsStandards Standards are often confused with Learning Objectives. Standards are the content and skills students need to know by the end of a school year. Learning Objectives are the content and skills students need to know by the end of a lesson. Perhaps most importantly, a Learning Objective defines the purpose of the lesson,…
The EL Roadmap
The California EL RoadmapNavigating the EL Roadmap through your use of Instruction The English Learner Roadmap was adopted by the California State Board of Education in July 2017. It is a document that encompasses many needs of the English Learner. The Roadmap consists of 4 main principles, each of which forms a pivotal part of…
The Secret to Differentiation with EDI: Making Better Decisions at Choice Points
The Secret to Differentiation with EDI:Making Better Decisions at Choice Points Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI), an interactive teaching strategy developed by Ybarra and Hollingsworth, involves the use of specific lesson delivery and lesson design components. The goal is for teachers to develop automaticity with the teaching strategies so they can focus more on how students…
EDI and Hattie’s Visible Learning
EDI Activates 18 of the Top 30 Influences on Student Achievement, As Measured by Hattie John Hattie, a professor of education from Australia and New Zealand, published Visible Learning in 2009 (with additional books in 2012 and 2015). The purpose of his research was to identify what works and what doesn’t in education in statistical…
Checking for Understanding by Calling on Non-Volunteers
Checking for Understanding by Calling Non-Volunteers. When addressing the idea of selecting non-volunteers for the purpose of asking students questions, one needs to consider two things: 1) Do students know the answer? and 2) Are they ready to give the answer? Here’s why we should NOT call on students who raise their hands. Typically, teachers…
How to Differentiate and Scaffold – after teaching including RTI
How to Differentiate and Scaffold – after teaching including RTIPlan for success after teaching All students successful Suppose you have already retaught, and a few students still aren’t ready. You have reached 80% success but are worried about the last few students. Naturally, you want all your students to be successful, but it’s not efficient…