12.28.23 The best of Teach. Learn. Grow. in 2023 I love this time of year, when the internet is flooded with best-of lists. The best movies. The best books. The best gadgets, even. It’s such a clever way to encapsulate a period of time, to... Read more
12.26.23 4 New Year’s resolutions for teachers Each back-to-school season is so different. In the fall, the time is full of possibility, nervous jitters, and new faces. After spring break, it’s more like Mad Max: desert cars limping across a... Read more
12.21.23 3 ways leaders can improve assessment literacy for parents and families Declining student scores over the past year in reading, math, and civics on the Nation’s Report Card have confirmed a sobering truth that was already widely assumed by the public at large:... Read more
12.19.23 Aligning curriculum, assessments, and professional learning to better support teacher practice and student learning The work of a teacher has infinite moving parts. There’s the upcoming required interim district assessment to prepare for. There’s the new school-wide social-emotional learning program to... Read more
12.14.23 3 teacher recommendations for teaching with the state test Two things are simultaneously true and inherently contradictory: Having a standardized source of student achievement data across districts is critical for evaluating progress and identifying... Read more
12.12.23 Listening to teachers to fix the state testing quagmire Across the country, teachers are beginning to plan for instruction after winter break. At some point during the second half of the school year, their calendars are marked “state... Read more
12.7.23 Reading fluency strategies for middle school—and beyond Reading fluency in middle school isn’t always a given. A startling number of students enter those grades without the reading skills they need to be successful. For some, the troubling trend... Read more
12.5.23 Cooperative learning: 4 steps for effective student grouping in a dynamic classroom Neat rows? Always. Groups of five? In June, if ever. As far as variety in student grouping for cooperative learning goes, my experience as a student in the ’90s was pretty limited. There... Read more
11.30.23 When learning to read sight words goes wrong In many kindergarten and first-grade classrooms, students are tasked with memorizing a list of words commonly appearing in texts. These lists of high-frequency words tend to go by a variety of... Read more
11.28.23 How to address text complexity and help students understand what they read When was the last time you had to read something you couldn’t understand? Stumped? That’s probably because you’re an excellent reader. I’m an excellent reader, too, so I asked my sister... Read more
11.21.23 Technology in the classroom: 5 things teachers need to know When it comes to technology, some of us are gadget-loving early adopters and some of us are Luddites who think it’s all been downhill since the advent of the printing press. Most of us are... Read more
11.16.23 Building strong foundations for early math skills at home One of my daughter Kat’s favorite activities as a toddler was lining up a set of plastic bears that she would “borrow” from her older sister’s toys. They came in four different colors,... Read more