At its core, assessment has always been a process that was meant to support learning; in other words, teachers and learners would use the information from assessments to make decisions about what comes next. In order for teachers and especially learners to even fathom ‘what’s next’ they must maintain a sense of hope. Read more
Why should teachers create their own common assessments? Wouldn’t it be better if the district did it for them? Read more
Over the summer, schools and districts often engage in curriculum development work. Many teams will be working to unpack standards, identify learning targets, and then align assessments to the targets. Read more
Assessment is a classroom tool that must be used to build hope and efficacy in learners. It must provide learners with the necessary information that they need to be able to make instructional decisions to support academic gains. Read more
Collaboration is critical to everyone’s success – especially learners in the classroom. In the early days of exploring brain research implications for the classroom, Pat Wolff was adamant that the speaker is always the learner (Wolff, 2010). Read more
In an effort to communicate more clearly, educators all over are exploring ways to provide feedback and report achievement. The move to being standards-based is intended to create a culture focused on learning, where students receive more specific information about what they understand and what they need to learn more about. Read more
Maya is in second grade. On Wednesday of each week, students in her classroom receive an object. With this object, they are asked to create something and write about it using details. Read more
He sat in the back, slumped deeply in his chair. His hat was pulled low over his eyes—a signal he was not having a good day. The teacher at the front of the room asked the students to engage in a warm-up activity. Read more
Some people call it “being in the zone”—this state of being where one is deeply engaged in a task or thought. Time passes without notice; ideas come easily or if they don’t, there’s a persistence to stick with the task no matter what; energy comes and the drive to create, solve, produce, play is unquenchable. Read more
