Monthly Archives: June 2012

Student Motivation: What Level of Engagement Are Your Students At?

I’ve worked a lot with schools wanting to motivate students, and we have largely focused on the “how.” In this work, I have named the conditions necessary for students to be motivated (as have others, such as here). My list … Continue reading

Posted in Motivation | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

What’s to Blame for Kids Not Learning?

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know I believe all students can learn. You know I think there are “easy to teach” students and “hard to teach” students, but I think they all can learn. So … Continue reading

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What Makes for Good Learning Experiences?

The more we try to to help build the talents of every student and help every learner succeed in school, the more we have to be deliberate about creating good learning experiences in our classrooms. I have certainly added to … Continue reading

Posted in Motivation, Teacher Practice | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

We Had It All Backwards: The Two Types of Instruction

When I told my Curriculum Director, Shelly, about my thinking about there being two types of instruction (Instruction for Lower Level Thinking and Instruction for Higher Order Thinking), she seemed to think the idea made a lot of sense to … Continue reading

Posted in Higher Order Thinking, Instruction for Lower Blooms, Technology for Lower Blooms | Tagged ,

Thinking of Instruction as Two Types

When our pilot teachers were visiting a school that is a little further along than we are at implementing Customized Learning, a colleague and I got talking about how we (us and our colleagues) had a lot of work to … Continue reading

Posted in Customized Learning, Higher Order Thinking, Instruction for Lower Blooms, Teacher Practice | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

School is Boring

School is boring. We all know it. Kids know it. Parents know it, but don’t want to think about it. We teachers know it, too, but defend it. In some small way, I think we don’t want to think that … Continue reading

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Positive Pressure & Support Part 3: Support

Schools need effective, practical approaches to helping more students succeed academically. A focus on student motivation and meaningful, engaged learning, on project- or problem-based learning, on personalized, customized learning, or on technology rich learning environments are all approaches that can … Continue reading

Posted in Lead4Change, Leadership, Professional Development | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Positive Pressure & Support Part 2: Supervision

So, you’re waist deep in your school’s initiative. Maybe it’s improving learning by taking advantage of 1to1 tablets or laptops, or through Mass Customized Learning, or with a focus on student motivation and engagement. And you are providing teachers with … Continue reading

Posted in Lead4Change, Leadership | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Auburn’s Messages About Learning with Technology for Commissioner Bowen

This morning, Maine Education Commissioner Steve Bowen spent an hour at Auburn’s Fairview Elementary School. We had been wanting Commissioner Bowen to see how Auburn’s schools are leveraging technology for learning. Although the brevity of his visit precluded having him … Continue reading

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