What is required often is determined by the bottom line. The bottom line sets the minimum expectancy that a person sets for their behavior or efforts in order to sustain a status. Said differently, the bottom line also is the … Continue reading
Educator Effectiveness: What’s the Bottom Line? Is There an “Or Else?”
Writing Instruction Without the Fretting
When the classroom assignment is to write, the teacher needs to listen and watch. Listen to the comments and mutterings of most children. “I don’t know what to write.” “I can’t think of anything.” “I hate to write.” Listen to … Continue reading
Your Pre-K Vocab Predicts Your School and Adult Vocab – Learn More Words Earlier
How many words did you know when you were three years old? If you knew that the strength of your adult vocabulary would be predicated on your three year old vocabulary would you have looked at words differently then? Will … Continue reading
Teacher Coaches – The New Player No One Knows
In the land of teachers, what is a professional coach for teacher effectiveness? When a new position is created in an established game, no one knows the rules for the player in that position. It would be like introducing a … Continue reading
Professional Coaches for Educators: Critical Observation, Focused Criticism and Objective Reflection
We all know folks who are born with innate talents. Yay for them. The rest of us need all the help we can get. Professional coaching has become a very accepted and productive strategy for improving professional skills. Today, given … Continue reading
Prepare to Win the End Game, Assign the Right Homework to Elementary School Children
If you assign homework to children in elementary school, make certain that you assign the right work for the right reasons. If you do so, their homework may have nothing to do with their daily assignments in grades K – … Continue reading
Yes, But You Need to Move the Learning Needle Regardless
Sometimes you nod in agreement with a writer until you reach a “Ya, but” point. Then your nod turns into a shake of the head. I read “Do Evaluations Penalize Teachers of Needy Students?” by Stephen Sawchuk (Education Week, August … Continue reading
State Report Cards: How Good Is Good Enough When Good Enough Is Not Good?
If someone said “You are a good person,” what exactly are they saying about you? Would you feel good about it? Or, if they said, “You are a good enough person,” what are they really saying? We have lost our … Continue reading
Primary Education: All Children Ready to Learn Regardless
Teaching children in the primary grades presents two humongous challenges: close the background knowledge gaps that children bring to their school-based learning and create a foundation for life-long learning. These two goals do not have to be competitive or counter-productive, … Continue reading
Is Your District a Leader or a Laggard?
Reports galore. It is easy for a reader of educational literature to be swamped by the hundreds of reports that are published each year. Some should be scanned. Some should be shredded. Some should be taken to heart and used … Continue reading