I was talking to a parent on the phone the other day who wanted to take her child on a holiday during school time and wanted us to send...

We know that in any given learning situation students arrive at different places.  When I first started my teaching career at the...

Assessment is the hardest thing you do.  You need to think about myriad of things all at the same time: What do I assess? Content? ...

Collaboration sounds like a good idea.  You are keen.  You have watched the video.  Your desks are in groups.  And…it isn’t going as well...

Collaboration is the new buzz word.  Sometimes it is hard to keep track of them all.  Why do we want our students to collaborate and work...

It being September, I had quite a few good conversations about diagnostic assessments this week.  Quite a few years ago, the practice...

Every year our board produces a video.    I got to watch it (twice) this week.    It is very good. One of the messages is about how our...

Do you create in your classroom a culture of “done” or do you create a culture of learning and improving?  A culture of “done” implies...

As the year winds down, mostly you are thinking about July.  But, should September creep into your thoughts at all, certain environmental...

As we move into writing June report cards and are beginning to think about assigning grades, it is helpful to differentiate between when...

May is a nice time of year in teaching.  You know your students.  You have the classroom management down.  While you will collect more...

When thinking about effective feedback you want to think about two types: the feedback that you as the teacher gets which informs how you...

This week I went to an engaging literacy workshop. I had a wonderful time discussing strategies and meeting with colleagues. I came...

Traditionally curriculum is designed in units: persuasive writing, short stories, fractions, cell theory etc. In order to make the...

You plan the lesson. You have the ideas. You can see how it is going to go in your head. And then it doesn’t. Somehow the students...

As a principal I get to go into classrooms in different ways than as a teacher. First of all, everyone sits up straighter! Sometimes, a...

Differentiation, multiple entry points, small group instruction, individualized instruction, IEP’d students—how do we incorporate all of...

I went to an interesting workshop on managing challenging behaviour and I thought I’d share some of Dr. Ross Greene’s ideas.  Not only do...

We often think of guided reading or guided instruction as a primary technique, but really it is good for students at all grade levels. ...

When I was a student, back in the dark ages, teachers gave out assignments all the time.  We did them, we got them back marked and we...