Why I Left Silicon Valley, EdTech, and Personalized Learning It’s hard to say whether I chose personalized learning--or whether it chose me. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but when I moved halfway across the country in 2014 to join an education technology company and network of
This is Balanced Literacy. The idea of balanced literacy is a relic from the reading war days; it used to be understood as simply reading and writing—and there is a connection there. But balanced literacy is so much more than that—it’s an entire approach to literacy
I recently met with a school leadership team as part of a strategic planning session. We were discussing ways to unstandardized the curriculum so students could receive a more relevant, equitable, and fun education experience. During the course of the discussion about ways to unstandardized
In June, the journal Educational Philosophy and Theory published “A Critique of John Hattie’s Theory of Visible Learning” by Thomas Aastrup Rømer. To quote from the paper’s abstract: First, I argue that the theory is a theory of evaluation that denies education as such. Second, I show that there are
What can we do to improve our children’s schools? Let’s listen to these voices from policymakers, school-building leaders, teachers, parents and the media about today’s education systems: Schools today are dangerous and violent places. Students aren’t becoming equipped to succeed in 21st-century higher education
One month into the new school year—a time that is typically filled with abundant hope, visionary plans, and great clarity—I find myself increasingly losing focus. And, while I take some comfort in the knowledge that that I’m not alone in feeling this way, I occasionally
Time is critical in almost everything we do. It is no different for a coach, teacher, administrator, or anyone in education for that matter. For someone not in a regular classroom, he or she usually asks, "What do you spend most of your time doing?"
“Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.” - Henri Poincaré, mathematician and philosopher, 1905 The research on learning is clear. From mathematics
After decades of hoping the problem would go away, educators -- from the classroom, to school sites, to the district boardroom -- finally understand that we are living in a very rapidly changing world. And they are starting to realize that schools that transform to help students and teachers embrace the challenges and opportunities of this
We know that when teachers come together and effectively collaborate and learn from each other about the best ways to move their students’ learning forward, achievement gains are likely to follow. We also know that this is easier said than done. There are many roadblocks that can