TRANSFORMING LEARNING FROM THE GROUND UP
Often when I work with schools, one of the key questions all are attempting to answer is: “What do I do if they don’t get it?” Dufour is perhaps the most famous for coining this question, but in reality, it’s simply the heart of what the entire education system is about (or should be, at least).
Surely you have noticed that students are a lot more apt to do something when it looks “fun.” Honestly, our students lose their attention and motivation when they see a PowerPoint from 2004 or a worksheet from 1999.
If you’ve ever sat in on a professional development session with me, you’ve heard my spiel, “From here on out, you’re a math person. Even if you feel you have no connection to mathematics, you need to channel your inner actor or actress and become a math person.
Do you want to generate interest in non-fiction? Then start reading it yourself. Fifteen years ago when my then high school principal walked into the library and told me that we needed to start doing more with non-fiction, I thought, “Please, no.” I was a romance, verse novel aficionado. But he was correct. Non-fiction is important.
Schools across Indiana are back in session. In spite of the COVID Delta Variant causing so much upheaval, once the school day starts, there’s a familiar energy that’s combating the continued burden we’re all sharing.
We are excited to announce a new collaborative initiative called INLearning Partnership! Keep Indiana Learning, Indiana Learning Lab and the IDOE are coming together to provide comprehensive professional learning resources for Indiana educators.
Relationships with our students are key. As educators, we know this is vital to student success. Research tells us there is a positive correlation between student engagement and academic success.
Students need to be part of experiences that are bigger than themselves. Having conversations centered in understanding, acceptance and empathy with others can be a great way to make connections outside of the classroom.
A new school year presents opportunities for various beginnings—a new school, new classes, new faces, sometimes new courses, and often new materials. Summer and vacation can be an excellent time for rest and renewal.
The edtech landscape has shifted. Again. In the past month, two titans in the game, PowerSchool and Instructure, have rung the bell on Wall Street with the recent announcement of their IPOs.
“When are we ever going to use this?” The dreaded, yet inevitable, question that arises every year for math educators. With the abstract nature of many standards in the high school math curriculum, I can certainly empathize with the sentiment of this question.
STEM support and initiatives across the state of Indiana have been a top priority over the last 15 years! Through early partnerships between Lilly, IDOE, & Purdue University’s Indiana Science Initiative (ISI), the I-STEM Resource Network was forged.
