It’s been a BIG year at REAL! Read more in our Annual Report
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Information & Inspiration
from real teachers, real students & real research
Back-to-school season just might be our favorite time of year here at R.E.A.L.® Discussion. Why? We have spent the summer connecting a diverse group of educators across geographies, backgrounds, teaching styles, and career stages. Despite their differences, all share a commitment to teaching discussion skills to students growing up in a screenbound, polarized world. R.E.A.L.®…
Sarah Odell is the Director of Faculty Practice and Research at the Hewitt School’s Center for Gender and Ethical Leadership in Society. We recently spoke with her about the power of research in schools. The interview that follows has been lightly edited for clarity. Tell us a little about your role at Hewitt. I run…
Have you noticed that kids today aren’t talking to each other? We have. We see that today’s teens are connecting with each other, certainly — they spend hours interacting with one another from behind the comfort (and, at times, the agony) of their screens. Yet when kids are off-screen, together, they struggle to talk —…
Glenn Whitman is the Executive Director of the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning at St. Andrew’s Episocpal School, where he also teaches history. The CTTL’s mission is “to elevate teacher effectiveness, student achievement, and the whole child’s school experience using the most promising research and strategies in Mind, Brain, and Education Science.” What follows…
Thank you to David Barndollar for sharing his REAL life with us! David is the English department chair at Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh, PA. Here are his thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. Hometown: Houston, TX Current City, School, Teaching Assignments: English Department Chair at Shady Side Academy. Describe yourself as a student in…
One of the best parts of working at R.E.A.L.® Discussion is that we learn as much from the teachers who deploy our program as they learn from us. Callie Hammond, a middle school English teacher trained in the R.E.A.L.® method, recently shared her report “Learning How to Talk: How Teaching Middle School Girls the Steps…
Discussion skills are critical for learning and for life – and that fact has become even more glaringly obvious in our hyper-polarized world. At R.E.A.L. ®, we’re convinced that teaching today’s teens how to engage in thoughtful, respectful face-to-face conversations isn’t just good for their GPAs – it’s critical for our entire society. In our…
We are delighted to announce the winners of The First 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 examining the role of face-to-face discussion in a tech-centered, AI-powered, ChatGPT-frenzied world. We noticed shared themes across the many submissions we received…
Thank you to Robby Uhrman for sharing his REAL life with us! Robby is an English teacher at Hutchison School in Memphis, Tennessee. Here are his thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. Hometown: Memphis, TN Current City, School, Teaching Assignments: 8th grade English teacher at Hutchison School in Memphis, TN. Describe yourself as a student…
AI is on everyone’s mind – and teachers are no exception. The recent rise in generative AI has educators undergoing somewhat of an existential crisis. If computers are smart enough to write an essay, to analyze text, and to draw connections and conclusions among various sources, what’s left for students to do? If teens have…
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