As a classroom teacher I discovered early in my career that when I met with a learning specialist regarding special needs of one of my students, the strategies shared for me to try almost always had payoff with additional students. When she told me a student needed movement between activities to increase his focus, I […]

This past week I was involved in a few central office interviews and writing proposals concerning future trainings and consultations I might be providing. In each case the topic of educators learning and creating a culture of adult learning emerged. As most often happens, connected writing by others appeared. Peter Senge defined learning organizations as: […]

Many of the readers of this blog who have worked with me in trainings for instructional coaching, designing professional development, or facilitating professional learning communities are aware that I focus on a backwards planning process that begins with identifying desired student outcomes. (See earlier blog.) I stress that it is critical for the definition of […]

I have had several opportunities in the last month to spend time with coaches and principals doing group observations in teachers classrooms followed by group discussion of individual’s analysis of what they saw happening in the teaching/ learning process. These sessions often conclude with my modeling of a conference with the teacher about the observation. […]

All of you who have been in my training sessions or coaching practices know the increase focus I have personally developed on “student behaviors”.  I believe that the real challenge in teaching is identifying what students need to do or experience that will create the learning outcomes we want. “Teaching my content” is very different […]

In my classroom observations I frequently find students working in groups but not practicing or developing cooperative skills. I often find students unclear as to why the teacher assigned the group the task rather than individuals. I observed a middle school math class where students in a group of four were given 10 math problems […]