Towards a more just, sustainable, and healthy planet
This blog first appeared on Share My Lesson Spread the word: The triangle is not the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Why does this matter? All good teachers savor “aha” moments—when students demonstrate deep understanding, make connections, or transfer their learning to new situations. Most educators aim for a level of comprehension that moves beyond simple memorization. We want… Continue reading What No One Tells You About Bloom’s Taxonomy
This blog first appeared on Corwin Connect. Education researcher John Hattie’s ground-breaking research about the factors that influence student achievement gives us much to think about in terms of our habits and practices. It helps us to prioritize initiatives, counteract negative influences, and get rid of practices – such as retaining students – that show little evidence… Continue reading Supercharge Your Classroom in 5 Steps
This blog first appeared on Share My Lesson. Has anyone ever told you that young children aren’t capable of having abstract thoughts? That was the prevailing view when I studied psychology many moons ago. But recent research and practical experience are challenging this conventional wisdom. According to Eager to Learn, the National Research Council’s report on… Continue reading How to Honor Childhood with Intellectual Rigor
This blog first appeared on Share My Lesson. Bonus: If you’re interested in exploring this topic further, sign up for Julie Stern’s free webinar, Teaching Big Ideas for Real-World Transfer of Learning. Educators today seem to be faced with a choice: continue teaching centuries-old ways of organizing the world through traditional disciplines such as mathematics and… Continue reading How Do We Prepare Students for a Complex World?
(This blog first appeared on Share My Lesson). Has anyone else been having trouble sleeping since the school shooting in Florida? Every single life lost before its time is a tragedy. For many of us, this one feels… different. Perhaps it’s the fact that we had three mass shootings so close together. Or that it… Continue reading A Cure for Bad-News Fatigue
This post originally appeared on Corwin Connect. WHAT IF WE COULD TRULY DO SCHOOL DIFFERENTLY? Picture a fifth grader who has identified animals as one of her passions. She has chosen to work on the problem of endangered species and make recommendations for improving the situation. Monday morning starts off with a Skype conference call with an… Continue reading Impact the World: Strategies for Transferring Learning
In an increasingly complicated world, it is essential that we honor the research-rich past and harness children’s natural curiosity as we look to the future. How do we move beyond surface learning to reach deeper comprehension? What strategies help students make connections between ideas and use their learning to unlock new situations? This webinar shares… Continue reading Teaching for Transfer
This post first appeared on Corwin Connect. On October 4, 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, making outer space the next battleground of the Cold War. It also sent a shockwave through the American public that demanded improvements in U.S. schools. With current tensions with North Korea, a renewed civil rights battle, and incomprehensible tragedies like… Continue reading 3 Steps for Teaching Innovation to Tackle Complex Problems
You've read all the books (or at least a few blog posts) on concept-based curriculum. You've reoriented your lessons to serve conceptual goals. You've sketched out the most important facts, topics, concepts, and theories for each unit. You have refined your generalizations over and over again to capture the exact understanding you're aiming for. But something… Continue reading 3 Steps to a Successful Concept-Based Unit
Last week we posted a general outline of teaching students to learn conceptually. Today we apply the outline to an actual class -- 6th grade social studies. Here's the context: The teacher worries that it might feel abrupt to suddenly begin being explicit about conceptual learning in the middle of the unit. A potential solution?… Continue reading What does it look like to teach students to learn conceptually?
