http://mindstepsincblog.com Help any teacher reach EVERY student Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:11:47 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Every year around this time, I publish a summer reading list of books I love and that have influenced my way of seeing teaching and leading. Here’s this year’s list: Imagination First:  Unlocking the power of possibility.  By Eric Liu and Scott Noppe-Brandon.  In an age of round-the-clock testing, I was ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/summer-reading/ When I built my company Mindsteps on the idea that any teacher can become a master teacher with the right kind of support and practice, I got a lot of push back. Immediately, people bristled at the idea. They pointed to teachers who threw chairs at students, or teachers who were mentally cruel ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/the-difference-between-bad-teachers-and-bad-people/ I am becoming more and more distressed by the conversations I am seeing in the national media that blame "bad" teachers for all the ills in society.  Take Newsweek's March cover that claimed that the key to saving American education was to "fire bad teachers."  Not only do these messages misappropriate blame ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/why-getting-rid-of-bad-teachers-creates-more-bad-teachers/ Spring is undeniably here and students (and probably a few teachers) have begun the countdown to summer. Take a moment to think about your students who have made progress this year in terms of becoming more independent learners, beefing up their study habits, or learning to ask for help. Chances are you’ve ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/student-success-notes/ If you’re reading this post after Robyn’s most recent newsletter piece and tip sheet on Keeping Promises, you may be thinking about the promises to students that you have made, mangled, and managed to keep. As I read her tip sheet, one of the “promises worth keeping to our students” ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/learning-from-our-mistakes/ 1.    I promise to pay attention to who you are and respect the currencies you bring with you to the classroom. 2.    I promise to keep out of your way so that you can take on the work of learning and enjoy the fruits of learning for yourself. 3.    I promise to ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/10-promises-we-should-keep-to-our-students/ For years, I have unquestioningly accepted the prevailing wisdom that the holy grail in education is to have intrinsically motivated students who learn for learning's sake. And yet, most of us don’t do everything we do for purely intrinsic reasons.  We work at least partially for a paycheck. We drive the ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/is-intrinsic-motivation-over-rated/ Does your school or system require that objectives be posted in the classroom? Are they part of your lesson plans? Something that shows up in your curriculum? At some point in your teaching career you’ve probably encountered SWBAT – Students will be able to…  But can you put SWBAT in ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/mastery-objective-or-activity/ As you know by now, I am looking for ways to make the professional development I provide more valuable to teachers. Last week I tried something new in a workshop I was conducting for a group of teachers. Rather than create a tightly structured agenda where I filled every moment ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/practicing-what-i-preach/ For those of you who haven't heard, I am on a quest to improve the way that we deliver professional learning experiences for teachers. My goal is to build a new model that has a greater impact in the classroom. I started this journey with the pledge that if I ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/get-out-of-jail-free-cards/