Powerful Learning Practice Blog

Support Teacher 101

Pulling children out for extra help can be a tricky area to navigate, writes Arwen Kuttner, reflecting on her first year in a support teacher role. “Elementary age children walk a tightrope between craving the individual attention I can give them, and the fear that others will think less of them for needing that attention. I have to normalize the experience and make them feel good about coming.” Here are some ways she works to accomplish that.

Break Down, Rebuild, Start Fresh

Taking the posture of a learner first, educator second requires us to understand that we will never arrive at the place of “super educator.” The truth is that even if we solve the problems facing us as a profession, the solutions will only give way to new problems. Now more than ever we need to become the learners we have always wanted our students to be. We do not need information about teaching and learning. We need revelation.

I'm a "Learner First" in a Whole New World

As nine-year teacher Charlie Gramatges assumes his first full-time school leadership role, he’s taking his “learner first” attitude with him. In his first post for Voices, Charlie reflects on some of his wonderings about his new leadership position and invites your advice.

Evernote: A Great Tool for Organizing Teachers & Students!

Evernote can be a great application for teachers, both to keep yourself coordinated and to facilitate student learning. School-based technology director Jennifer Carey talks educators through getting started and highlights several ways she’s used Evernote to “not only make my life a little easier as a teacher, but to help my students and my classroom stay more focused and organized.”

Problem-Based Learning: Our Brains Abhor Cliffhangers

Our brains don’t like unresolved issues, writes El Paso Schools IT director Tim Holt. “Hollywood figured out long ago that cliffhangers are sticky — that our brains remember unresolved issues longer than plotlines that just plod along.” In his latest post about the advantages of problem-based learning, Holt says PBL lessons should also keep students busy resolving the unresolved.

Assessing Student Progress Using Blog-Based Portfolios

The beauty of blog-based digital portfolios, says teacher-author Kathy Cassidy, “is that as the children and I are constantly assessing their learning in a formative and summative way, the students are also demonstrating their growing knowledge for a wide audience and learning about digital citizenship and appropriate online behavior. What great by-products of the assessment process!”

Some Low-Cost Summer PD Ideas for Connected Educators

Summer is a great time for educators to hone their classroom skills, deepen their content knowledge, and grow as professionals, says history teacher and connected educator Jennifer Carey. With computer access and an Internet connection, you can bring professional development to your own living room at little or no cost. Jen shares four ideas she’s pursued herself.

Hale@home: Easing Student Transitions via Online Learning

In this fascinating account of online learning, Michael Valentine, the director of Hale@home, describes a 21st century solution to a traditional dilemma – how to prepare rural boys for transition to a large urban independent school in Perth, Australia.

Digital Literacy: Find Free (and Legal) Images for Your Classroom

There’s a lot of confusion among educators about how images and other content published online can be used. Teacher Jen Carey tells how she and her students are avoiding copyright violations, learning digital literacy and accessing millions of free and legal-to-use images.