When coaches ask why their instructional coaching efforts aren’t having the impact that they would like to see, I oftentimes ask them to take a step back to analyze the situation. Coaching skills don’t mean a lot if they aren’t grounded in a set of
The last recorded fatal airline passenger crash in the United States was in 2009. When you consider the number of flights taking off and landing every day, that fact is remarkable. As a result we take the safety of airline travel for granted: Near absolute
In our February 2018 blog post, we wrote about the power of assessment-capable visible learners. This work is derived from John Hattie’s seminal research on what matters for student learning. Those of you that have been following Hattie’s work know that he has created a list of 250 influences on
Has this ever happened to you? “My lecture went perfectly! I worked the sample problems. I could tell the students really understood the material.” The next day: “I don’t know what went wrong! I thought all my students understood what I went over yesterday.” If we’ve been there,
The final months of the school year can feel pretty sloggy. We’re tired, kids are restless, and it often feels like it doesn’t matter much anymore. After all, the year is nearly done! Summer is practically here! The standardized tests are over! Cue the Moviefest. The
In my work with teachers across the country on differentiating instruction, it appears that when it comes to differentiation, teachers fall into one of three categories: teachers who want to differentiate instruction for their students but don’t know how teachers who have tried to differentiate
Welcome to Mr. Patterson’s science classroom. Each day, Mr. Patterson establishes clear learning intentions and success criteria, and aligns a challenging science task that actively engages his learners in rigorous and relevant science content and process skills. As part of the science teaching and learning
What ripple effect do you want to pass on to students and adults in your school building? Our impact as educational leaders can vary, but our core business as educators is to serve students by influencing substantive academic, socio-emotional, and civil improvement, at least one
Behavior is a form of communication, and students often behave in ways that we do not understand and for reasons we cannot fathom. Nikolas Cruz and Adam Lanza, for example, spoke a behavior language that their administrators, teachers, and community officials did not understand. This
It’s never a great moment when a coachee comes back after trying something you suggested to find out it didn’t work. Or is it? In a recent conversation with a school leader who was facing a performance challenge, he expressed the following concern: “So, I did