Want to build a discussion skills program?
A series about teachers (who are the main characters of our mission) out there hustling to make their students feel known, heard, and challenged through student-led discussion.
Thank you to Julia Porter for sharing her R.E.A.L. life with us! Julia is a high school English teacher at Tabor Academy in Marion, MA. Here are her thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Name: Julia Porter Hometown: Amherst, Massachusetts Current School: I teach ninth graders and…
a Guest Post by Robert Barnett What can machines do better than humans? And what can humans do better than machines? In the world of AI, this is a question on many people’s minds. And for those of us in education, it feels particularly relevant. Teaching has always been a fundamentally human endeavor, and the…
This week, we’re featuring a team of teachers from St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, VA: Maggie Nunn, who teaches eighth grade Civics and US Government, and Julie Elmore, who teaches eighth grade English. How do you kick off R.E.A.L.® in your classroom? What are some of the intro moves you make? What did you do…
Last week, we were thrilled to welcome friend-of-R.E.A.L.® Jeff Wetzler to give a keynote presentation to our intrepid R.E.A.L.® educators. Jeff, the former Chief Learning Officer of Teach for America, is the co-founder of Transcend, an organization that strives to support school communities as they create extraordinary, equitable learning environments, and the author of Ask:…
by Emily Gromoll and Izzy Guiliano One of the ways teachers (and students) gauge growth in discussion skills as part of the R.E.A.L.® Discussion process is through the Student Survey and R.E.A.L.® Data Dashboard. Prior to starting R.E.A.L.® and every three discussions thereafter, students take a short, anonymized survey in which they report on their comfort…
Grant Lichtman is a renowned thought leader on the transformation of K-12 education who works with educators to develop a comfort and capacity for change in a rapidly changing world. Grant spent two years on a cross-country journey exploring deep wells of cultural wisdom that our tech-centered culture has eroded. What follows is a conversation…
Name: Hannah Higgin Hometown: Wallingford, CT Current School & Teaching Assignments: History Department Chair at the Westover School in Middlebury, CT. Describe yourself as a student in three words: Curious, studious, and engaged. Who was your favorite teacher and why? I loved my high school English teachers. Two who meant the most to me are…