On the first day of school I tell the students a story to shift their perspective about school and their preconceived notions about my class. In Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, the introduction discusses how truly remarkable it is that any of us are here at all. I was inspired by the introductory passage and […]
Read more "If only we changed our students’ perspectives on Day 1"I’ve been spending the past few days thinking about Thursday’s #mschat on educator engagement. I was truly stunned by the participation. It feels like #mschat is starting to enter a ‘next level’ of chats on Twitter. More participants, more lurkers, more more more. The insights and contributions from around the country (and world) has been […]
Read more "How can educator engagement be measured?"This is the third of my reflections from last week’s #mschat on celebrations in the classroom. I have to say this will probably be my shortest reflection and post so far in my blogging career. When the question came up, I honestly couldn’t believe it was even part of the discussion. In what ways can […]
Read more "How can we add student voice to celebrations in learning?"Grading has been a hot topic recently. I was in a Twitter chat last night (#mschat) that focused the entire hour on some of the issues and concerns about teacher grading policies. Since my office has construction workers cutting a hole in my exterior wall today, I’m not going to be able to write that […]
Read more "What is the purpose of grading?"In my class of 6th grade students I would always start the school year with a conversation and a rationale as to why I taught in a certain way. Then, over the course of the school year, I would revisit this rationale as I would walk them through what my thinking about a particular lesson or activity […]
Read more "Why you need to teach students metacognitive skills in middle school"I had a quick thought this afternoon. Have you ever noticed that some teachers are afraid to leave their class alone even when they, the teacher, are getting annoyed and upset? I just realized that new parents do the same thing with screaming infants. They try anything to soothe and quiet the baby. Pleading, rocking, […]
Read more "A class is sometimes like a crying infant"
peter spiegel 