For 14 years I reinvented my instructional wheel each summer to build student achievement. I’ve used creative images and rhymes (anchors), interactive games (engagement), 3-Acts, Notice & Wonder, Front Loading, and constant review. However, I am not happy with just high scores on state exams. What I teach, too often, doesn’t stick in the long-term…regardless … More 5 Concerns for Inquiry-Based Instruction
For almost two years, I have been working on integrating STEM and social emotional learning in my inquiry-based collaborative math teams. Some days have been more productive than others, but I have not been losing ground as far as content mastery…at least not until COVID-19 hit. My first thought was to just post the videos … More Joy + Accountability in COVID-19 Learning
Someone recently posted a question on the NCTM Community Forum, “How do we get our high school staff to understand the shifts in (Common Core) math? They do not like the strategies taught at the elementary levels.” I’m thinking they don’t ever “notice and wonder,” use “Kagan” strategies, have blown off McREL, and never heard … More Helping Math Teachers to Shift
While I agree behavior should be reported separately from academic progress, I have not found a way to accept late work without hijacking time from somewhere else. Here are the systems I have thought of or read about (please add your own to the comments and maybe we can rewrite this post together!): Wait until … More Late work & logistical nightmares
It is completely understandable for a teacher to wince when they think about how many students these days have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). There seems to be more and more IEPs every year. While it is great that students receive the special care they need, I have some concerns that at some point, IEPs could … More IEP for Everybody?
“If I could change anything about our class…” About half the responses to that question, mentioned homework. My students are expected to complete an average of about 40 minutes of algebra homework pretty much every night. In a decade where the anti-homework voices seem to be gaining momentum, it can be difficult for my students to … More Why I Assign Homework: Dear Students, I love you…
The American Psychology Association beautifully summarized the “Top 20 Principles From Psychology for PreK-12 Teaching and Learning” in a 2015 white paper. Somehow I missed seeing that back then, but I have seen papers that echo the same principles and have observed them in my own practice. Here’s my Reader’s Digest version: Ability Principle … More Math Ability: Where it comes from
Who contributed to this post: Cris Saldaña https://onestepedu.wordpress.edu Aubrey Patterson https://www.nohea.info/blog Lori Harvie https://www.nohea.info/blog Matt Foster https://mafost.blog/ A tweep I admire posted a link to attend a webinar about, “The Opportunity Myth,” a study that was recently released by TNTP. The study examined 1,000 students and reported on their lack of preparation for going to … More “The Opportunity Myth:” yes and no
