At a teacher leader workshop we learned some valuable lessons about how to get the most out of our Professional Learning Community (PLC) work. One thing I noticed is that the type of deep thinking that is needed for PLC’s to do their job well is the type of discourse I see often from my …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/12/06/inquiry-for-teachers/
Dec 04
Sharing Learning Expectations
As I continue to learn more about Assessment for Learning (AfL) I find ways to hone my craft. One of the five key strategies of AfL is to share learning expectations with students. I’ve used rubrics on and off for years not sure if I like the transparency of them or hate how they don’t …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/12/04/sharing-learning-expectations/
Nov 29
Can Inquiry Be Structured?
Short answer, yes. There is a time and a place for everything. And even with inquiry there is a time and place for structure. I think learning a structure like the one in this blog is great for elementary teachers who teach Science. Is this the only way? No. Should you do this all the …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/11/29/can-inquiry-be-structured/
Nov 27
Feedback with Google Forms
I’ve used Google Forms to create surveys for my students. I’ve gotten some great feedback from students at the end of course. It was easy to create and I got a spreadsheet with all their feedback. I could read through all the student responses. I never used Google Forms for quizzes but finally decided to …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/11/27/feedback-with-google-forms/
Nov 23
Extend the Lesson for Inquiry
Science kits are great for elementary and many middle school teachers. I’m a generalist (got the early adolescent generalist national board certification before it went away), which basically means I dabble in everything, so the fact that I’m teaching only Science is through some fortunate circumstance. I saw fortunate because I love teaching Science and …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/11/23/extend-the-lesson-for-inquiry/
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/11/14/technology-as-a-tool/
Nov 12
Limited by Four Walls?
Sometimes I think I’d be a much better educator if it weren’t for being stuck inside the four walls of my classroom. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. There are things that I wish I had done better or differently that just wouldn’t be issues if we weren’t all trapped inside these same …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/11/12/limited-by-four-walls/
Nov 12
Letter to WA State Superintendent of Public Schools
One of our high school teachers wrote a letter to our state’s superintendent of public schools sharing her concerns over the state’s decisions for testing Science this year and next year. I asked her if I could share her letter because the concerns that she raised are so blatant and Maren wrote such a great …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/11/12/letter-to-wa-state-superintendent-of-public-schools/
Nov 09
Quick (and dirty) Inquiry
So while my 8th graders were researching the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill a few teams found youtube videos showing how hay could be used to soak up the oil. Yeah, they saw it with own eyes on the video. That was somewhat convincing but they were still curious. Could hay really soak up oil …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/11/09/quick-and-dirty-inquiry/
Oct 17
Ed Reform? Okay.
I’ve never been a fan of teaching to a state test. I don’t mind assessing my students and I think it’s all right if students take common assessments to see how they’re doing. When I start teaching in South Central Los Angeles back in 1991 students were taking the CTBS multiple choice test. Knowing that …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/10/17/ed-reform-okay/
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2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
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