How students who would rather talk than text imagine discussion in their futures We talk often about the “why” behind our work. We’re passionate about teaching discussion skills because we believe they define humanity – that they’re critical for success in the classroom, the cafeteria, or around the kitchen table. In our tech-centric world, conversation…

Over 2,000 students in grades 6-11 responded to the student survey we sent following the first R.E.A.L.® cycle of the 2023-2024 school year. The results were fascinating! While we saw some expected areas of growth – we usually see students master “Excerpting” early, and we did once again! – we also noticed some surprising patterns…

We talk – often – about the negative ramifications today’s teens face of living in a screen-bound world. We postulate about the impact of ever-increasing screen time and ever-improving technology on teens’ mental health, their attention spans, and their conversation skills. We theorize about kids’ “addictions” to their phones, to social media, to screens.  As…

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 whole system is based on…

R.E.A.L.® Discussion is a professional development program that empowers faculty to teach their students how to thrive in discussion – in the classroom, in the cafeteria, on the court, and in their communities. R.E.A.L.® gives faculty and students shared language and classroom routines  to make discussion come alive in their classrooms.  The whole system is…

It’s the start of the school year, and we’re eager to see how our R.E.A.L.® practitioners roll out R.E.AL.® in their classrooms this year. If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that the coming weeks and months will reveal incredible growth for students who learn our framework. How do we know? We collect…