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Information & Inspiration
from real teachers, real students & real research
We are delighted to announce the winners of The Second Annual R.E.A.L. ® Discussion National Essay Contest! We invited the thousands of students who have used R.E.A.L.® this year to submit an essay exploring the differences between communicating in-person and on-screen. We asked for predictions about how Gen-Z will communicate in 10 years, and we…
Thank you to Holly Silberman for sharing her REAL life with us! Holly is a middle school English teacher at William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia. Here are her thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. Name/Hometown: Holly Silberman/Doylestown, Pennsylvania Current School: William Penn Charter School, where I teach sixth and eighth grade English. Can you…
Dr. Emily Weinstein is a Principal Investigator at Harvard’s Project Zero, a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the founding Co-Director of the Center for Digital Thriving at Harvard Graduate School of Education. What follows is a conversation between Emily and R.E.A.L. ® Founder Liza Garonzik. This conversation has been lightly edited…
Adults everywhere lament kids’ conversational skills (or lack thereof) – in schools, restaurants, around family dinner tables. The causes are debatable and myriad: blame iPads, TikTok, parents, politics, COVID – the list goes on! Here’s what’s not up for debate: today’s students struggle to communicate…especially live, in-person, and across any kind of difference. As teachers…
They might prefer texting to talking, but it turns out Gen-Z believes in-person discussion really matters. As part of the R.E.A.L.® Discussion process, we frequently survey students to gauge how R.E.A.L.® affects them in class and beyond. We always ask: “What is one way you think learning discussion skills will help prepare you for the…
R.E.A.L.® Discussion is a professional development program that equips faculty to teach, measure, and celebrate discussion skills – which students use in the classroom, in the cafeteria, on the court, and, even, at the grocery store (said one sixth grade girl) and on dates (shared a ninth grade boy)! The system is based on the…
Teachers don’t always get the feedback they want and need. At R.E.A.L.®, we’re trying to change that with our program that offers on-demand instructional coaching for the educators within our network. We sat down with R.E.A.L.® Director of Program Emily Gromoll to chat about feedback: what it typically looks like for teachers, what it would…
Jeff Wetzler is the co-founder and co-CEO of Transcend, an organization that strives to support school communities as they create extraordinary, equitable learning environments, and the author of Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life. What follows is a conversation between Jeff and R.E.A.L. ®…
Thank you to Matt Tilford and Jack Fischer for sharing their REAL lives with us! Matt and Jack teach history at Woodward Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. Here are their thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. Names/Hometowns: Matt Tilford: Joshua Tree, CaliforniaJack Fischer: St. Louis, Missouri Current School: Woodward Academy in Atlanta, Georgia Can you describe…
Today’s teens spend close to 9 hours per day in front of screens – and devices aren’t going away any time soon. The results of so much screen time (the equivalent of a full work week!) are varied and complex – and one consequence is that today’s kids spend much more time than previous generations…
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