http://mindstepsincblog.com Help any teacher reach EVERY student Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:21:07 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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/ We have officially entered the absurdly long, bleak stretch between winter break and spring break. Many of us arrive at school while it’s still dark outside and find the sun dipping below the horizon by the time we leave. Despite the dreary weather and kids who are cooped up inside ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/teacher-tip-long-term-planning-calendars/ Here is Robyn's Latest Newsletter Article: I was talking to a friend and colleague over the holiday break about my frustration with most professional development models. You know the kinds of experiences I'm talking about - the sit and get, spray and pray deals most of us have had to endure ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/you-deserve-better/ As the holidays approach, many of us throw our typical eating habits out the window and start a week or two of reckless (and delicious) overload. For breakfast I had a bowl of fiber cereal and several of those sugary candy orange slices. That counts as a fruit, right? Pretty soon ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/student-motivation-put-down-that-cookie-and-read-on/   Here is Robyn's latest article from Mindsteps' December Newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, click here. Have you played a video game recently?  Maybe you play a little solitaire or free cell on your computer to unwind after a particularly stressful day, or you are addicted to bubble breaker and bejeweled ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/can-video-games-really-teach-us-about-teaching-here-are-5-lessons-we-should-learn/ For most of us, only a few weeks remain in the marking period.  Secondary teachers probably have exams arriving in the next couple of weeks while elementary teachers may be feeling their time slipping away due to special holiday programs and end-of-unit assessments. Rather than “running out of time” during ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/surviving-the-december-crunch/ Whether students are missing classes in December due to illness or travel, you're bound to have more than a few absences throughout the month. Consider creating an Absent Work Folder system either on a bulletin board or crate in your classroom. When you hand out new assignments or return papers, ... http://mindstepsincblog.com/teacher-tip-absent-work-folders/