In this episode, we talk about teacher rubrics. How do you think beyond the traditional rubric? 01:35 The single-point rubric and how simplification and clarity could be the key to getting teachers much more excited about rubrics and making sure it’s much more impactful to student success in the classroom 02:03 Christina and her twin … Read more
In this episode, we talk about incorporating parent and community engagement in the classroom. How do you engage parents in a holistic way? And how do you also engage the broader community to share their experiences on certain topics that you have? And also just engage them in collaboration with your students, and making sure … Read more
In this episode, we talk about how to be an innovator in a traditional system. How can you innovate as a teacher or as an administrator, and what are the systems that hold you back from doing what you want to do? What are some of the things that hold you back? How can you … Read more
In this episode, we talk about athletics, and teaching versus coaching. What coaches do from a mentorship and teaching perspective, and what traditional teaching offers our students. 01:30 Christina’s experience as a swim coach; comparing coaching and traditional teaching 02:00 We should rethink our teachers as coaches 04:31 Nick’s experience playing sports, and what he … Read more
In this episode, our guest, Ray Steinmetz, a math teacher at Portsmouth Middle School in Rhode Island, talks about his classroom experience from being a traditional math teacher to transitioning to blended learning. 01:35 Ray’s experience as a traditional math teacher 01:54 Learning through the Highlander Institute and shifting to blended learning 02:26 Ray’s technology … Read more
In this episode, we talk about homework: why is it important, how do we make sure that students see the value in it, and how do we administer it the right way. Vera De Jesus and Mike Klein from the Highlander Institute join Nick and Christina in this discussion. 01:57 Vera’s experience: homework was not … Read more
In this episode, we define what honors courses are and discuss how we can think about what’s going to be best for students’ success. 01:45 Desire for honors 01:55 How the way it’s played out is counterproductive and works against equity 02:22 While the goal is to differentiate for students, what ends up happening is … Read more
In this episode, we talk about adaptive learning: how to use adaptive software to personalize learning for your kids. 01:24 How do we continue to drive personalized experiences for our students? Something that teachers are always thinking about, but, where does technology fit into this conversation? What are these technologies? How do they help? What … Read more
In this episode, we talk about how to design projects for an authentic audience, as an extension of the topic of project-based learning. 01:02 Why this topic? 01:51 Working through designing different projects with different teachers 02:33 Who would the kids present to? 02:55 Are we designing the project and then presenting it to an … Read more
In this episode, we talking about rethinking student government within the confines of traditional structures. Blended and Personalized Learning Conference 01:55 What is the best way to provide students agency, give them leadership opportunities and make sure they can communicate and share their voice with institutional leadership and teachers? What have you seen as far … Read more