Mindfulness-or training one’s attention to focus on the present moment-has become all the rage, filtering into schools and classrooms. Books and articles suggest that teachers and students can benefit from mindfulness practices such as mindful...
Classroom management is often cited as the top concern for new teachers. Managing a classroom full of students comprised of various learning needs, diverse backgrounds, and behavioral challenges is no easy task.
While specific management...
You don’t have to go far to realize that we are facing a major shortage of teachers in U.S.schools. News reports show that school districts across the country are scrambling to find qualified teachers to meet fast-growing enrollment at public...
In my last blog, I wrote about the concept of deep learning and how k-12 teachers might work to become the type of teacher that facilitates this type of deep learning.
First, a brief recap: these ideas of deep learning come from Ken Bain, who wrote...
In his work on top performing professors, Ken Bain wrote about three types of college students: surface learners, strategic learners, and deep learners. Surface learners are those students just trying to survive. Strategic learners play the system,...
I thought it would be interesting to trace back turning points in my teaching career--times when I had a breakthrough in teaching, met influential people, experienced intense, meaningful events or occurrences. Dictionary.com defines a turning point...
When teaching class recently, the topic of how people respond to finding out that my students are studying to become elementary school teachers came up. Almost all of these student teachers had stories. Often, when they told someone they were...
Japanese baseball legend, Tetsuharu Kawakami, dedicated himself to Zen Buddhism and was known for spending hours meditating and honing his concentration. He claimed that his focus was so powerful that, when batting, the “ball would just stop.”...
There’s an expression in education known as “teaching to the middle.” This means gearing the majority of instruction and curriculum towards students performing at grade level or in the middle of the class.
I’ve never cared for this concept since I...
It always amazes me when teachers don’t pay attention or act respectively during faculty meetings. Sometimes, teachers can make the most difficult students. During my time as a k-12 teacher, while a principal was speaking to the faculty, some...