Imagine being 8–10 years old and suddenly finding out one of your parents or caregivers lost their job, seeing them stressed and crying, being told they can’t afford to do things you always did, having to move because your family can’t afford to live there anymore. Imagine having your parents or caregivers take on extra […]
5 Strategies for Leveraging Neurodiversity in the Classroom
In the blockbuster The Imitation Game, Alan Turing is stigmatized as arrogant and apathetic. In a classroom, children labeled with these characteristics are less likely to be authentically engaged. Their education and career opportunities become limited as a result. However, when we shift our mindsets and frame those characteristics as self-aware and passionate (for Turing, […]
Principal Support Is Just a PLE* Away!
The pandemic started a domino effect of issues that are still affecting schools today. Principals must attend to so much, and there are so many urgent items nagging at them, that it is sometimes hard to focus on instructional leadership. As principals face the challenge of moving their schools forward, they must shift to empowering […]
Designing Authentic Curricula
Some points I’d like to make: – Students are constantly learning … just not necessarily what you want them to learn. – Reality TV points to the power of the “real world” to engage youth today. – A real-world pandemic burst into our lives, causing us to focus on the here and now. – The […]
Teacher Retention: Challenge and Innovation
Schools, districts, and parents are being dealt a wake-up call that, if not heeded, will result in a disastrous lack of teachers in the near future (it’s already happening in some locations). In-service teachers are leaving the profession, and fewer students want to enter it. “Few professions have been more upended by the pandemic than […]