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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 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…
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…
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…
Thank you to Shaila Richmond & William Berry for sharing their REAL lives with us! Shaila and William teach seventh grade English and History, respectively, at St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, Virginia. Here are their thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. Names/Hometowns: Shaila Richmond and William Berry, Richmond, VA Current School: St. Catherine’s School Can…
Today, we’re thrilled to welcome Peter Nilsson — AI expert, seasoned school leader, and diehard humanities teacher — to the blog. A prolific writer, Pete has spilled much ink discussing the role and purpose of in-class education in an AI world — and he’s bullish on the part school still has to play, even amid…
Thank you to Sydney Freibaum & Jennifer Cordero for sharing their REAL lives with us! Sydney and Jennifer are sixth grade teachers at Hutchison School in Memphis, TN. Here are their thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. Names/Hometowns: Sydney Freibaum, Memphis Jennifer Cordero, Memphis Current School: Hutchison Middle School, where Sydney teaches sixth grade English…
by Harriet Piercy Harriet Piercy has taught English at London secondary schools since 2015 and held a number of roles as a curriculum leader. She is currently joint head of the English faculty at Haggerston School in Hackney. She was recently a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching scholar at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, undertaking…
Dr. Sarah Bennison is the co-founder and CEO of the Mattering Movement, an organization focused on combating the pandemic of loneliness and despair—that is, a widespread mattering deficit—that’s harming today’s youth. What follows is a conversation between Sarah and R.E.A.L. Founder Liza Garonzik. This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity. Liza: Welcome, Sarah, we’re…