Learning Through Teaching: Building Critical Consciousness in My Classroom
Looking back on my time teaching English, I know I didn’t include enough books by Black and Brown authors, or books by women. In film class, I predominantly showed white men telling stories about white men because those were the movies I knew and had watched and studied. I was limited by own life experiences… Read More ›
Resource Round-Up: Honoring Student Voice with Authentic Products
Engagement can be an ongoing struggle in remote and traditional classroom settings, but there are technologies and strategies available that can open the door to many authentic student projects. Blogs, podcasts, digital storytelling, and a variety of non-traditional genres of writing can feel closer to the kind of communication students do out of school. Below… Read More ›
Education in the Balance: Tensions Affecting Education’s Future
Education leaders at all levels need to grapple with key issues and tensions as they strive to meet learners’ needs, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to understand how to support and empower school systems in tumultuous times, we explore three topics in the series Education in the Balance: Tensions Affecting Education’s Futures: leadership… Read More ›
For Students, Lived Experience = Expertise
As I watched the youth researchers deliver their project presentations during the conclusion of the YARI Project held in December 2020, I beamed with excitement, awe, inspiration and pride. After a formidably challenging year, to say the least, the youth researchers forged ahead and persisted to successfully complete their research projects. The final event did… Read More ›
Highlighting the Importance of Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Associate Principal Darius Green sat down to reflect and describe what student-centered learning has been like for his school community during COVID-19. For him, building relationships is the cornerstone of a thriving school community. Leaders and educators must be honest in how they address social injustices to give each student what they need to be… Read More ›
Reflections and Resources for Educators Facilitating Youth-Led Research
After concluding the youth-led research project, YARI, Director of the Youth Development Master’s Program at Rhode Island College, Victoria Restler, sat down to reflect on what educators, mentors and graduate students involved in the project learned from working with youth. What is your biggest takeaway from your involvement and role in the YARI project? I… Read More ›
Your Struggles are Systemic and Valid: Reflections from a Youth Researcher of Color
Humans have an inherent desire for everything we do to mean something – to be bigger than ourselves. In reflecting on my time with the Youth Action Researchers at the Intersection (YARI) project, I wanted to accurately depict this project in a somewhat professional manner: write down data and draw up organized charts. But in truth, this has been messy,… Read More ›
Student and Teacher Agency in Action: the Self-Direction Toolkit Development Process
Researchers tell us and employers confirm that individuals who demonstrate the 21st-century skills of self-direction, communication, creativity and collaboration excel in post-secondary and career experiences. So the more schools can support the development of those crucial skills, the more we’ll be ensuring our graduates are successful in both the workplace and college. Figuring out how… Read More ›
How Our School Shared Student-Centered Learning With Families
Over the past four years, the Winship School’s instructional focus has been to create student-centered learning environments for all students, all the time. This focus has been a major driver of our school’s success. As a result of this intentional focus and our aligned efforts, we were able to enhance our capacity to meet students’ academic,… Read More ›
One School’s Commitment to Equity Using Student-Centered Learning
We know that within the past year lower-income families have been relegated to remote learning with inconsistent or nonexistent internet service, improper removal from special education services, lack of suitable WIFI-enabled devices, insufficient or nonexistent childcare, food insecurity and innumerable other challenges. Comparatively, wealthier families have in-person classes, higher diversion rates to private schools, availability… Read More ›
Resource Round-Up: Talking About the Attack on the Capitol
The following resources are designed to help educators have critical conversations about the attack on the Capitol with their learners, peers and within their communities. Resources to help your students Resources for Talking To Students About the Attack on the Capitol Children need a safe place to express their anxiety or worries and seek answers… Read More ›
10 Drivers of Engagement You Can Use Right Now
Whether learning occurs in brick-and-mortar schools or in virtual environments, student engagement drives an impressive array of student outcomes. Eric Toshalis, Senior Director of Impact at KnowledgeWorks, uses research to present and explain ways educators can drive student engagement in their classrooms regardless of whether they are teaching virtually or in-person. Below is a list of resources… Read More ›