"When children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another."--Marva Collins
Teach them how to learn
It's not about memorization.
It's not about lecturing.
It's not about filling in the blanks, multiple choice questions, or true or false statements.
It's not about 25 students on the same page, at the same time, reading the same paragraph in the same textbook.
Teaching in the 21st century boils down to one central question: How do we make students agents of their own learning?
Every teacher has to find her own answers to that question. Those answers, like any creative solution, can take many forms. And those solutions will change, because authentic learning is always centered on the needs of the learner.
One of the things I've figured out along the way is that the art and science of teaching is a very human business, and therefore, sometimes, messy. During the course of my tenure as an educator, I've established a few enduring principles--strategies that involve learners in the process, empower them to set standards and make choices about their learning process, tailor the learning landscape to meet their individual needs, and move everyone forward through active, inquiry based learning experiences that support rigorous creativity and rigorous academics. I've developed four strategies that work for me, time and time again.
And that's the purpose of this website--to share the strategies that I've fused and applied to real curriculum in real classrooms in order to power up learning for real students.
My overarching goal is simple and direct: to ignite the light of learning.
It's not about lecturing.
It's not about filling in the blanks, multiple choice questions, or true or false statements.
It's not about 25 students on the same page, at the same time, reading the same paragraph in the same textbook.
Teaching in the 21st century boils down to one central question: How do we make students agents of their own learning?
Every teacher has to find her own answers to that question. Those answers, like any creative solution, can take many forms. And those solutions will change, because authentic learning is always centered on the needs of the learner.
One of the things I've figured out along the way is that the art and science of teaching is a very human business, and therefore, sometimes, messy. During the course of my tenure as an educator, I've established a few enduring principles--strategies that involve learners in the process, empower them to set standards and make choices about their learning process, tailor the learning landscape to meet their individual needs, and move everyone forward through active, inquiry based learning experiences that support rigorous creativity and rigorous academics. I've developed four strategies that work for me, time and time again.
And that's the purpose of this website--to share the strategies that I've fused and applied to real curriculum in real classrooms in order to power up learning for real students.
My overarching goal is simple and direct: to ignite the light of learning.
TEACH THEM HOW TO LEARN: Infuse curriculum with information literacy skills.
POWER UP KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION: Individualize instructional tools.
TEACH THEM HOW TO THINK: Put inquiry based learning front and center.
LEARNING OUTSIDE THE BOX: Flip the pyramid to nurture creative solutions.
information literacy + learner needs + inquiry based learning + creativity: Take a look!
Learning about the Life Cycles of Butterflies and Frogs