Category Archive

For School Leaders The Challenge As there are always things that can or need to change in a school community, a school leader maintains a culture of improvement among its stakeholders. Families, students and teachers are stakeholders alongside the school leader. It is critical that the school community, not the visitors or onlookers determine what can change and how to …

For School Leaders The Challenge Too often, school leaders view themselves as leaders who ought to spend their day in an office to manage the business matters of the school. How can school leaders make a transition from being perceived as the boss in charge to a fellow learner among colleagues? Only then will the school community thrive in a …

There are two kinds of assessments that must be done in tandem in teaching. Typically, students are assessed on what they have learned at the end of a chapter, unit, or end of a session. These summative assessments are often cumulative tests that may be poorly constructed and are not a fair representation of what was learned. Besides that, teachers need to implement formative assessment techniques throughout the learning, well before a summative assessment. Diligent efforts must be given to both formative assessment techniques and well-written summative assessments for the sake of genuine student mastery.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of levels of thinking. Created by Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues in 1956 and revised in 2001 by psychologists, this framework influences educators. This taxonomy is useful if and when educators can find practical applications to their classroom instruction.

For Teachers The Challenge It would be wonderful if each student learned in the same way and at the same pace. But we know that is not the reality in any school. Knowing that students require different paths to learn, how does a teacher differentiate instruction to guide students to master a lesson plan objective or learning outcome? Students as …

Typically, teachers understand the concept of teaching a lesson by way of lecture or presentation through direct instruction. But, too often, teachers do not plan for students to share the responsibility for the outcome through guided practice, which is the second step of the gradual release of responsibility. Guided practice follows direct instruction, giving the students an opportunity to work together and practice the skill. Effective teachers plan for guided practice in their weekly plans.

For Teachers The Challenge Effective teachers write lesson plans that are incorporated into a weekly schedule. This principle is attainable, but every teacher knows it requires practice, diligence and time. The effort to make a weekly plan in addition to the investment into the actual writing of the lessons is a commitment at every grade level. Access on how to …

For Teachers The Challenge Educational theory throughout history informs us about how to be more effective teachers. What we have learned through the Ancient and Middle Ages has brought us to more effective ways to teach in this Modern Age. Today, teachers are more informed on how a child thinks and learns. How can educators learn from the past and …