What makes for the strongest professional development you’ve experienced? Does it: Help you to accelerate acquiring new skills to bring to your teaching? Extend your professional network through connections with dynamic teachers from many types Read more…
If we’re picking the best educational videos of the first fifth of the century, I’d certainly include on my list “Austin’s Butterfly: Models, Critique, and Descriptive Feedback” from EL Education. Expeditionary Learning is the company Read more…
We all are asked for advice from time to time, and over my years as a high school teacher, I occasionally get a question from one of my charges about relationships. Whether asking me is Read more…
We frequently ask students to try harder. It’s one of those things a teacher is supposed to do. But saying it, and saying it in such a way that it elicits the effort we want Read more…
In the swamp of seemingly endless stories about corruption, lies, shootings, and similar, it can be hard to be optimistic about the future. And yet, there are people like Manu Prakash. Centrifuges are devices used Read more…
The first time I watched this video about a South African woman who knits warm things for babies she’s never met, I was moved by the power of her voice to speak to what matters. Read more…
“Don’t worry; you’ll grow out of it.” The boy looked back at my smile quizzically, with that, “Did he just encourage me or insult me?” look on his face. The truth is that it was Read more…
Ask a lot of people what they are planning to do when they retire, and you’ll get the response, “As little as possible!” Were you to have asked that of my friend Cecelia a few Read more…
Several years ago I was told a story about how baby elephants are trained for the circus. Can’t say that I know how accurate it is or remember exactly where I heard it, but the Read more…
This morning I watched a video that directly challenges how schools typically run. The video is called What is School For? by Prince Ea, who blends commentary with hip-hop delivery to explore why we do Read more…