Well, it’s been a bit of a tough week for me! Phil Beadle, a highly renowned master teacher and author of teaching advice books sort of lowered the boom on my work in the most unceremonious way! This was devastating of course. Imagine how it felt to have the master himself accuse me of perpetuating “symbolic…
Every so often Teacher Twitter turns itself to the topic of tracking and “SLANTing” in the classroom- basically whether student can and should or can be asked to look at one another when they are speaking in the classroom and whether its reasonable to ask them to sit up. That time has arrived again over in…
Vibrant, positive, productive classroom culture is a foundation of learning. Students do their best work when their time is honored and when they feel safe, successful and known. But easier said than done. It’s hard work building pitch-perfect cultures that maximize learning. On May 11 and 12 in Troy, NY (just outside Albany) we’ll spend two…
Cognitive load theory describes the relationship between Working and Long-term Memory during learning. Understanding cognitive load theory and its implications for the classroom is one of the most important things teachers can do to improve their instruction. Cognitive load theory focuses us on understanding and addressing the importance of building Long-term Memory. Kirschner, Sweller and…
The TLAC team will be in London April 20 and 21 for a two-day workshop on Engaging Academics. I thought I’d tell you a bit about what we’ll be working on those days. First the content: We’ll take a deep dive into a series of key techniques focused around the skill of questioning and how it…