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Author Archives: admin
Case Study: Rigorous Unit Planning
Recently in one of our rigor workshop series, I worked with two teachers – Elise and Sylvia — who were planning a unit on Harriett Tubman for second-grade students. Prior to the workshop, these teachers had worked to plan a … Continue reading
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Never Work Harder & New Teacher Evaluation Systems
School districts across the US are creating new teacher evaluation systems that are supposed to better identify ineffective teaching and, in some cases, tie a teacher’s rating to student performance. My quarrel is not with the evaluation systems themselves however. … Continue reading
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Who Wants to be a Teacher?
by: Denise Malone Several years ago I reluctantly agreed to be part of a Career Day celebration at a boarding academy. On my way to the school, I was flanked by professionals who enthusiastically talked about what they were going … Continue reading
Posted in Better PD, Teacher Tips, Teaching
Tagged master teacher, Teacher Tips, Teacher Training, Teaching
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Supporting Students When They Fall
By:Robyn R. Jackson One Thanksgiving my father’s entire family gathered at my great uncle’s house for dinner — all seventy of us. We had a ball from the oldest (91) to the youngest (4 months). After dinner, I was standing near … Continue reading
Earth Day: A Teachable Moment in the Classroom
By: Diane MacEachern There is no student who is not affected in some way by our environment. Climate change is increasing pollen counts in the atmosphere, posing greater risk for kids who suffer from asthma and other respiratory problems. Children’s … Continue reading
What is Rigor?
What is rigor? Whenever we deliver a rigor workshop, one of the first questions we get is “What is rigor?” While everyone agrees that rigorous instruction is important, few agree on what rigor is. In most cases, educators believe that … Continue reading
PD Case Study: Rigor at Woodmont High
Because our professional development at Mindsteps™ is fully customizable, how schools implement our work looks different from school to school. While the concepts and principles are the same, how each gets implemented is highly individual to each teacher. Here is how one … Continue reading
Rigor Requires Rigor
Just the other day I was helping a group of teachers plan rigorous units. As we were creating essential questions and thinking through the standards, I asked what I thought was a simple question: Why are you teaching this? The … Continue reading
Instructional Leadership: Data Based Interventions
From time to time we come across a resource we find really useful. Our colleague Dr. Shawn Joseph recently wrote a wonderful book, The Principal’s Guide to the First 100 Days of the School Year: Creating Instructional Momentum that is chock … Continue reading
Case Study: The Top Five Things Students Want
Every year, we spend time at Mindsteps™ conducting student focus groups with the schools we serve on an ongoing basis. We conduct these focus groups to find out if the work we are doing with teachers and administrators is really … Continue reading
