Getting students to talk with their peers about the content being learned, using academic language, problem-solving, and negotiating ideas has been a priority for teachers for many years. Tremendous progress has been made since the days of transmission schooling in which teachers talked and students
We all know that teacher-student relationships are one of the biggest predictors of student success. Actually, it’s been reported that teachers that have strong relationships with their students have 31 percent fewer behavioral issues (Marzano, 2003). That’s right, 31 percent. However, let’s take a minute to
Whether newly arrived or U.S. born, English learners (ELs) must leap over the many hurdles they encounter along the road to becoming English proficient and academically successful. Take into account, for example, that some of our youngest learners and those with interrupted formal schooling also
What descriptive words come to mind when you imagine a classroom teacher, a site principal, a central administrator? Doug Reeves explores an inverse relationship between the size of a district’s strategic plan and its magnitude of impact on student achievement. I write today to study the inverse relationship between power and trust between a senior leader and his/her employees. First let’s define trust
Choice, Color, Comfort, and Collaboration What type of classroom works best to engage ALL learners? How does this classroom look and sound? How do the learners feel? What will they gain from being in this environment? Will this experience prepare them for future educational endeavors and
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
In 2015, I conducted a nationwide survey of 6th-12th graders that asked one simple question: What engages you as learners? The results that came back could be categorized into 10 different strategies. But one request that came up over and over again, regardless of whether
2017 has brought us some good news: Social-Emotional Learning is still with us and ever expanding! More and more, educators and employers are recognizing that those who are intrapersonally and interpersonally skilled are more successful in school and careers. Of late, much of the literature regarding
Over the past few years, Poudre School District in Fort Collins, Colorado, has started a journey to focus on the learning of all students by building and sustaining high performing teams. We are guided by the words of one of our retired principals: Every child deserves to
This is a question that I have asked myself for many years. The importance of shared leadership is something that we have been discussing for some time. Who can argue with the concept of collaboration and shared leadership? Of course, we understand that top-down leadership