In a learning institution such as a school, we face many changes as we learn more about teaching and learning, as we gain insight about the genius each of our students brings to our community, and as we collaborate to find adaptive solutions to our puzzles of practice. In this post, I want to describe a model we have used in my school district to reflect on change and strive to support teachers as we engage in change processes. This model, developed by Hendrik Knoster, is called the Knoster Model.
Strategic Design & Delivery of Services
How to Use Universal Design for Learning to Create Assessments
My tenth article with Edutopia was published today!
How to Use Universal Design for Learning to Create Assessments
Developing Strong Student to Student Partnerships
As the school year begins, many of us are talking about how to build strong student to student partnerships in our classrooms. When students collaborate in effective partnerships, learning increases and a sense of belonging is nurtured. In this post, I want to share some partnership ideas.
Continue reading “Developing Strong Student to Student Partnerships”
Empowering Elementary Students With Disciplinary Literacy
I’m so happy to share that my third article has been published! Here it is:
Disciplinary Literacy and Equity
Over November break, I started reading Disciplinary Literacy in Action: How to Create and Sustain a School-Wide Culture of Deep Reading, Writing, and Thinking, by ReLeah Cossett Lent and Marsha McCracken Voigt. I couldn’t put the book down! In this post I want to begin to synthesize the book by discussing one of the themes I found across the chapters, Equity. Continue reading “Disciplinary Literacy and Equity”
Data Protocols
Over the past few weeks we have engaged in data talks at my school and several colleagues from other sites have asked me to share effective protocols for data talks. Ever since I began developing my facilitation and coaching skills, protocols have intrigued me. Not only do protocols provide structure and a predictable, transparent routine, but they also can be intentionally designed to support asset-based and equity-rich conversations. In this post I want to share some of what I have learned and, as always, I hope to learn from reader suggestions and feedback.
Student Agency, Feedback, and Voice
Last year, I wrote about Pedagogy of Voice, as described in Street Data: A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation. This weekend I am rereading the Pedagogy of Voice chapter: Redefine “Success” and striving to go deeper into the content. In this post, I want to share some of the passages that are standing out the most, and why.
Making Space for Student Feedback and Voice
“My job as a teacher is not to teach the curriculum or even to just teach the students; it is to seek to understand my kids as completely as possible so that I can purposefully bend curriculum to meet them.” – C. Minor
“Creating a collaborative culture is the single most important factor in school improvement for those seeking to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning.” – R. DuFour and B. DuFour
The quotes above are on my mind as I celebrate the publication of my second piece, Making Space for Students in PLCs. The processes I describe in the article are built off what we learned from our students and what we learned together as collaborative teams of inquiry.
As always, I look forward to feedback as you read the article!
The Four Pivots, Part One
The purpose of my writing this blog over time is to synthesize my own learning and to share my learning with others. As I write today, I’m returning to my purpose because I know how important it is to remind myself of my why, especially since today is the day I’ve added a “Subscription” feature to my webpage! I’m extremely excited about the privilege and opportunity to share my writing in a more systematic way with my readers.
In this post, I want to begin a synthesis of The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves, by Shawn Ginwright, PhD. This will be the first in a four part series, each part comprising one of Ginwright’s pivots. As I read the book, I was inspired by the connection between self work and social justice work. The focus on Belonging also stood out to me because it is one of my Core Values and because we know that in order for learning and healing to occur, we need Belonging. Reading the book, I had many take-aways for myself, my leadership moves, and my teaching. I highly recommend reading the text and know many educational leaders and learners will be embracing it over the years to come!
Joy: I’m a Published Author!
I’ve been writing this blog for two years! Writing is one of the ways I show my creativity and honor my core value of sharing what I have learned with others. One of my dreams has been to be a published author, and that dream came true last week when my first article was published on Edutopia. Today I am celebrating this goal, and looking forward to my upcoming writing projects.
Please check out my article:
Fostering Identity, Joy, and Skill Development
