The Science of Learning
This report summarizes existing research from cognitive science on how students learn and shows its practical implications for teaching and learning. The report identifies six key questions about learning that should be relevant to all educators: How do students understand new ideas? How do students learn and retain new information? How do students solve problems? How… Read More ›
The Art of Reflection
Student portfolios can provide an alternative way to assess student work. Yet, they can become simply a catalog of things students have learned or an add-on at the end of a unit. In this blog post, Beth Holland, Johns Hopkins University doctoral candidate and EdTechTeacher instructor, offers ideas to ensure portfolios truly support student centered… Read More ›
How to Build Community Leaders of Today—and Tomorrow—Through Student Genius Hours
This article describes how a middle school Language Arts teacher in Omaha, Nebraska has used genius hours to extend student learning and build agency, all while strengthening community. Jen Schneider introduced Genius Hour by allowing students 1 hour a week to work on a self-selected project. Students must set out to answer a question and… Read More ›
Waukesha STEM Academy Series
This four-part series featuring Waukesha STEM Academy (WSA) is part of a series on personalized, proficiency-based education in Wisconsin. This blog post gives an introduction to what’s happening state-wide. WSA is a competency-based school with personalized learning for all 300 students it serves. It spans grades 6-8, but students move at their own pace and… Read More ›
Want to Set Students Up for Success? Make Room for Vulnerability
This article, written by a student, describes the culture at One Stone school in Boise, Idaho. One Stone is a student-led and directed nonprofit committed to making students better leaders and the world a better place. The school is free and open to any student. Much of the work at One Stone occurs through Design… Read More ›
Creating a Peer Coaching Program to Grow Student-Centered Learning (Part 1)
In southern Maine, the little corner of the world where I teach, coach and learn, we are in the midst of transitioning to a student-centered learning (SCL) model. The Biddeford School Department is a public, K-12 system serving 2,425 students. I am an instructional coach at the middle school and am in my second year… Read More ›
6 Strategies for Promoting Student Autonomy
This article introduces six concrete strategies teachers can use to foster independence in the classroom. The strategies can be used to support a flexible classroom in which students are working on their own or in small groups on a variety of tasks at one time. Teachers should model the strategies and give students multiple opportunities… Read More ›
5 Ways to Build Relationships with Young People
This webinar will focus on building relationships with youth that support their development. The webinar will review findings from multiple years of research conducted by the Search Institute. In particular, participants will learn: The power of building relationships with and among young people Essential elements of developmental relationships and what we have learned about them… Read More ›
ASCD Citizens in the Making Resources
Two resources from the ASCD Express issue Citizens in the Making highlight ideas and resources for teachers who want to incorporate more project-based projects that will allow students to use their voices to inact change in their local communities. Teaching for Active Citizenship: Ideas and Resources describes several active citizen projects in which students take on… Read More ›
A Year Of Love And Struggle In A New High School
Too many young, black men struggle in America’s education system. Washington D.C. is trying to do something about it with a new, boys-only high school. NPR’s Cory Turner and Education Week’s Kavitha Cardoza spent hundreds of hours there, reporting on the birth of a school built on one word: Love. Code Switch, an NPR podcast,… Read More ›
Making Media Literacy Central to Digital Citizenship
While there are many new technologies coming into the classroom, video has been used consistently by students in and out of school for many years. The author of this article, a Director at Common Sense Education, asserts that students should learn to harness video to to bring about positive change, becoming savvy digital citizens. This… Read More ›
Use Audio & Video to Engage Students and Promote UDL
This webinar will explore ways to differentiate instruction with the classroom technology available today. It will address ways to promote Universal Design for Learning in classrooms. Attendees will learn about a range of tools – both websites and apps – that are available to provide multiple means of engagement, representation and action/expression. Whether tools are… Read More ›