Motivation. That thing you seem to misplace every day around one. You know … the one that gets lost right as you’re scheduled to go to the gym? We all have our own struggles with getting ourselves into gear every once in a while.
We want to track our students' progress and growth - it's the very heart of education. However, tracking progress effectively can be a challenge, especially when you're managing tens or dozens of students. Effective progress tracking happens when your data and your system work
It’s that time of year for parent-teacher conversations and that means you’re probably meeting - or speaking in-depth - with some parents for the very first time. As the learning guide for their children, these first impressions are important…and sometimes stressful. What makes a
Motivation is a complex task. We have to find the best ways of coaxing, enticing, rewarding, and encouraging each student in a way that works for them. But when the day wears on and the coffee wears off, it can feel like we’re demanding,
Around a billion people had their data compromised in 2018. Tens of millions of dollars were lost, nearly 20 million identities were stolen, and if you’ve received an odd call from an unknown number, chances are your number was given away. You might think your details
Lessons rarely go as planned. How we imagine their delivery, student reaction, and the gift of knowledge we leave as the bell rings out, is a warm and delightful fiction. Problem-solving and reasoning (PSR) lessons are no exception. Putting together a multi-part activity combining
Great problem-solving and reasoning questions (PSR) are those that provoke students into thinking. We want them to care about the problems they're solving, and to do that, we have to tickle their fancies, pique their interest, and stock the embers of curiosity burning deep
Problem-solving and reasoning (PSR) can be daunting when you’re teaching it for the first or hundredth time. Teaching PSR is an art, and like any art, there are solid foundation of principles you can follow and expand upon as your confidence grows. Here’s how
Student motivation is an art and a science. Short-term encouragements like stickers, certificates, badges and rewards can be short-lived. Even familial praise and peer recognition only provide temporary boosts that fade with time. The secret to enduring motivation is to inspire the idea that
Setting clear lesson goals Setting goals is how you guide yourself down your intended path. Having objectives in mind provides a way to align your actions in service of those big-picture targets. Sure, you can keep things moving day-to-day without a long-term strategy.
When non-educators hear the phrase ‘student-led conference’ they probably see scenes of chaos dancing around in their heads. Then the questions start: How could students effectively lead comprehensive and impactful conferences? Wouldn’t they only tell their parents about the good stuff? Surely these
Why it's important to celebrate student success We all have fond memories of our big classroom successes. These moments are etched into our memories forever. Sometimes, they even shape our career paths. They’re more than just feel-good moments, the right celebrations can propel
Ask any teacher what their classroom looked like ten years ago and they’ll take you on a trip down memory lane. Chalk boards instead of smart boards. Notepads instead of iPads. Computer rooms instead of desk computers. Despite these shifts, one thing remains
Structuring a science lesson for primary-age students is different from how you’d structure a spelling, reading or mathematics lesson. Science lessons need to be structured in a way that helps students think scientifically. We can encourage scientific thinking through a solid science lesson
STEM is the key to the future, and the future is in the hands of our children…which can put a lot of pressure on primary teachers to get their heads and minds across the S in STEM. Kirren, a primary teacher new to science,
