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Information & Inspiration
from real teachers, real students & real research
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…
Thank you to Erika Drezner for sharing her REAL life with us! Erika is the Upper School English department chair at the Berkeley Carroll School in New York. Here are her thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. Hometown: Ithaca, New York Current City, School, Teaching Assignments: English teacher and Upper School English Department Chair at…
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…
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