“Before, during, and after writing, there are opportunities to leverage classroom community, and I actually think that writing and discussion can both improve each other. We say that writing should happen every day and be a key element of the classroom, and I think discussion is the same way.”
The value of norms, respect, and safety, in our country as in our schools.
Mythologies, debunked: how newly clarified information can inspire teachers and students to discuss, and learn, better.
A conversation with Claire Goldsmith, Executive Director of Malone Schools Online Network and online learning optimist.
Beyond the Syllabus posts offer a round-up of resources that are “practice-adjacent,” as Katherine often says. We offer recs for podcasts, fiction and non, and TED talks that offer delightful – if surprising – ways to rethink or enrich discussion practice. This week, we tapped into the trend of self-paced learning, which has become especially…
We often use metaphors to describe what we do in the classroom. Do those metaphors help us, or do they hurt us?
Nourish yourself.
“Optimism is an explanatory process… it’s the narrative you tell that allows you to move forward.”
“For me, especially as a young teacher who’s still trying to figure it out, I’ll have students who will try to take the conversation in a completely different direction than what I had planned. Then I start to get worried, and I feel I have to reel the entire class back in. My mentor, though, challenged me to let it happen and then take advantage of the tangent. I’m trying to learn to do that, instead of letting it bother me.”
Experienced online teachers show a preference for, and a desire for more, student-centered practices. Their voices can remind innovators where to focus.