Schools and classrooms are opening across the country in the coming weeks and amidst the uncertainty about masks and the like, there’s the enduring question that takes on double-weight after pandemic disruptions: How do we create vibrant positive and productive classroom cultures that harvest attention and help students succeed? With that in mind I’m happy to…
As you probably know I’ve been trying to share useful video and analysis of successful approaches to online learning on this blog. One of the big challenges is that synchronous lessons are challenging–challenging to run; limited in terms of how much students can do in a day–while asynchronous lessons are hard to make interactive. As I…
Our weekly video review had us buzzing this week. Among the teachers we watched was Laura Baxter, who teaches 4th grade at Nashville Classical Charter School. I wanted to share a really rich clip of a small and apparently mundane moment from her classroom for a couple of reasons. What first drew us to this clip…
This week I sat down to watch footage of Tamesha McGuire’s Kindergarten at Uncommon’s Kings Elementary in Brooklyn. Now, technically I’m supposed to give Tamesha feedback first before I post anything–she’s a TLAC Fellow and that’s part of the program–but, honestly, I loved this clip so much I couldn’t wait. So with apologies to Tamesha, here’s…
Some of the most important moments to manage when you are trying to build great culture are the moments when things are going well. It’s important to reinforce positive behavior when you see it of course and when you have to make small re-directions to help students keep doing the right things the sooner you can…