Deeper Competency-Based Learning provides educational leaders, teachers and policy makers both the vision and the tools necessary to move from traditional grading and assessment toward a competency model that accurately reflects student mastery, writes coach Kathee Lamberies.
Building on her previous writings redefining rigor in education, teaching coach Barbara R. Blackburn shares fresh tools, strategies, and insights to add rigor to your teaching in ways that are meaningful, engaging and appropriately challenging for all students.
Teacher Scott Silver-Bonito is using an AI bot to create student study guides and build AI study spaces that are interactive, informative, and responsive, taking the burden off the teacher to continually create study materials and review every student response. See his example!
Joyful Learning offers a student-centered vision to help teachers bring more meaning and fun into their practice. It offers a framework for considering key elements of teaching practice like relationships, curriculum, assessment, grading, assignments, writes Nicole Miller.
Project-based learning’s mischievous sibling, problem-based learning, is once again gaining traction in the educational sphere. Kim Rensch, a district gifted services leader, likes that Todd Stanley’s book goes deep into assessment after a thorough look at inquiry learning.
“Build Reading Fluency: Practice and Performance with Reader’s Theater and More” by Timothy Rasinski and Chase Young is a great resource to connect reading instruction, assessment and joy by sharing both the research and the practice, writes educator Claire Stein.
The decision to give students “extra credit” should be closely tied to a teacher’s reasons for grading, says teaching coach Barbara Blackburn. Do you grade to measure understanding, provide accountability or compare students? She includes a “redo” tool – her preferred option.
It took Stephanie Farley 21 years to solve the student self-assessment equation. The solution? Teaching students to explain their thinking as they revise and improve. The result was transformational; they gained confidence in their work and were far less anxious about grades.
Back to School / Wide Open Learning
by Megan Kelly · Published 09/17/2023 · Last modified 08/04/2024
At times we can be overwhelmed by all the fresh ideas we want to try out in a new school year. By narrowing her goals down to three top priorities, Megan Kelly aims to make lessons more meaningful for students, improve family engagement, and do better at tracking individual progress.
To infuse classrooms with meaning, relevance and lots of fun, Stephanie Farley suggests ways to keep teaching student-centered: develop essential questions, make connections, and assess for learning not just grading. A super summer read, writes consultant Cathy Gassenheimer
