Three years ago, under a new principal, my high school leaped head first into the “re-learning, re-take” trend sweeping public education. The philosophy is simple and has undeniable logical appeal. If Michael performs poorly on a test, he should have the opportunity to re-learn the material and improve his score. After all, we get more…
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They might not be paying attention
If you could secretly observe each of your students during class one day, what would you see them doing? I hope I would see my students all on task, listening intently to me (or their classmates), contributing to discussions, taking thorough notes, working collaboratively during group time, and getting the most they can out of…
Read MoreWhat I learned in 3rd grade
Have you ever wondered how your subject is taught to students at a lower grade level? When we think about these unseen colleagues in our elementary and middle schools, we usually don’t get past our aggravation with them. Middle school English teachers wonder: Why didn’t anyone teach these kids how to use punctuation? High school…
Read MoreShe got it wrong, but why?
You know when your students get something wrong, but do you know why they get it wrong? Figuring out a student’s cognitive missteps is one of the most difficult parts of this job — and one of the keys to being an effective teacher. It starts with a question for the class. Let’s take one day…
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MARTHA RUSH 