In October, I laid out here the goals I set in the summer and, motivated by Alyssa Villareal’s fall post, committed to reporting back and holding myself accountable to them. This fall, without going down the rabbit hole of politics, I’ve found myself struggling to stay on my path and focus on teaching–as I have …
Yearly Archives: 2017
On their own path (01/14/2017)
We are all so busy and it’s hard to keep up with blogs, social media. Many of you told me that you liked the weekly blog summaries I started last year and you missed reading them. It’s a new year and a new attempt at keeping up, even though I’m not making it my goal for …
Joining Forces
As a father of young kids, I’ve talked with other dads about when to share one of the most sacred of topics with my kids: Star Wars. We’ve gone ’round and ’round with what age, what order, and whether or not to start at Episode 1 or Episode 4, but the thing that remained clear was …
But first, let me take a selfie…
… as in, a self-assessment, on proficiency. Ask yourself: “What exactly do I know about the levels and what they look like? Can I explain it to students, and/or parents? Can I hear, read, and observe examples and then rate them?” For me, a lot of work went into the paradigm shift that is proficiency-based teaching, …
Packing for the Path to Proficiency-Part 1
I’m packing. No. Not guns. Strategies, activities, techniques, differentiation. All the materials I need to tackle the path to proficiency. I love the title-Path to proficiency. The word is so apt. A path is long & winding, with mountains and valleys, obstacles, and rewards. When we set off, we’re full of optimism and excitement, but …
Continue reading “Packing for the Path to Proficiency-Part 1”
Forget about your goals this year!
“Should old acquaintances be forgotten, And never brought to mind?” … it only takes this song and a couple of hours of reflection on the just-completed calendar year and our list of resolutions or goals for the new year is longer than the grocery list for Christmas dinner. Of course, it’s easy to set goals and …