One of the highlights of my trip to the UK last June was visiting Torquay Academy in Devon- not just because it’s a really outstanding school where happy kids are given the gift of orderly school and rich, challenging instruction but–epiphany alert–because when teachers used techniques like Wait Time and Cold Call they were…
This year Darryl Williams, Team TLAC’s Senior Fellow for School Leadership, has been providing in-depth support to Freedom Prep, a network of schools in Memphis. During a recent visit, Darryl and John Costello, video ace at team TLAC, supported leaders by visiting classrooms and studying student work. One of the moments John captured was this…
I’ve been reading up on Cognitive Load Theory quite a bit lately. Two of my favorite discussions are this one by Adam Boxer and this one by the New South Wales (Australia) Dept of Education. It’s been useful among other places in my personal life, where I’m in the midst of teaching two teenagers…
I spent the day visiting Freedom Prep HS in Memphis today. There were lots of highlights, but I wanted to write about one classroom in particular- and specifically about a single phrase the teacher used that was simple, brilliant and useful to others. The teacher was Torian Black. He teaches 9th grade African-American History. During…
I have no business writing about the arts. But my middle daughter is artistic. She draws and takes photographs. And watching her learn has led me to reflect on artistic creativity. I note that while I love the arts deeply and feel strongly about students getting access to serious instruction in them, I am a dilettante…