What does motivation look like? I saw it in the faces of about 40 kids at Irondale High School (MN) on Saturday morning. They were the KnightKrawler robotics team members, gathered in the library at 9:30 a.m., waiting for the “big reveal.” Saturday was the day when organizers of the global FIRST Robotics competition announced…
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The dreaded conversation
Here’s one thing parents and teachers have in common: We both get nervous when the other is on the phone. A call from school: Parents worry that their child is in trouble, is failing, is misbehaving – and that they (the parents) are somehow to blame. A call from a parent: Teachers worry that the…
Read MoreTeaching teachers? At least model good teaching
It’s bad enough when someone puts up a PowerPoint and talks at me for an hour about a dull topic like ACT test prep, choosing a textbook or the school’s new tardy policy. But when a conference presenter who promises a session on “inquiry learning” puts up a tiny-font PowerPoint and lectures me about how…
Read MoreRacism isn’t debatable; it’s wrong
I generally try to avoid politics in my blog. When it comes to education issues, I do not fully agree with either the Democrats or Republicans (or the Libertarians, Socialists or any other party). To say that unions are good or bad or that Common Core is good or bad or that charter schools are…
Read MoreStop telling students the answers
Students learn better when we ask questions before we provide the answers. They learn better if we ask them to generate their own strategies, interpretations and ideas before we tell them how to do things — whether it’s how to use an economic model, solve an algebra problem or write an essay. I learned this nugget…
Read MoreOur kids need us to get out of the way
When my son started a job in New York this summer, a manager told all of the new hires: Call your parents regularly — otherwise they will call us to check on you. We laughed about it. I can’t imagine my parents calling my boss when I was a young adult in the 1990s, and I…
Read MoreLet’s end boredom together
What does it mean to “never bore” our students? How can we train teachers in active-learning strategies that engage all students? Promoting active learning in high school classrooms has been my mission for just over a year, and now there are big changes underway at NeverBore. You may have noticed that this blog is now MarthaRush.org.…
Read MoreMake time in class for what’s happening outside
ABC News How do you react when events outside the classroom are clearly affecting students inside? Do you take time to let students talk about their opinions, experiences, and questions? Or do you do what most of us do — stick to the lesson plan? Years ago, Mary Dilworth and Carlton Brown interviewed urban teenagers…
Read More‘I don’t get it’ doesn’t get us very far
“I don’t get it” Students often say this, but it’s not very helpful information for us. It could mean: I don’t understand the vocabulary in the reading I don’t understand the concept being explained I don’t have the background knowledge to make sense of this information My answer was wrong, but it still seems right…
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If you have an idea, don’t let it go
You’re back from summer break, energized for the new school year. You read a great book on writing workshops this summer, and you are excited to implement a new strategy this fall. You propose it to your Professional Learning Community (PLC), and the response is … silence. No one else wants to do it. Sounds…
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MARTHA RUSH 