A Classroom A Buzz with Partner Talk!

I recently shared a video on my fan Facebook page from The New Teacher Project about a new teacher rolling out a Turn-and-Talk; a procedure used in class to encourage student engagement and collaboration as outlined by Doug Lemov in his Teach Like a Champion book of teaching techniques. A Turn-and-Talk is a simple process…

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21: Stepping Back to Step Forward

Sometimes to get ahead in life and your career you have to step back to step forward. That special decision to pause allows knowledge and rejuvenation to prosper and spill over into your next step. Listen up as I speak directly to new teachers, teachers in distress or transition and teacher leaders! Quotables Long hours…

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20: Hug and Reach with Melissa Emler

Melissa Emler, best known as Missy, is an elite educator. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education and a master’s in Educational Leadership. She has shared her vision and wisdom of 21st century learning at conferences such as SLATE and ISTE. Missy is currently the director of innovation at CESA 3, serving 31…

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The Silent Teacher

The strength of a teacher can be found in their silence. It’s often not what they say, but what they don’t say. [spp-tweet tweet=””] You might wonder how I know that. Well, my first few years of teaching, I did ALL of the talking. I was putting on a show of my talent and desire to…

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18: Seeds that Sprout

Hear how a sprinkler watering the concrete inspired this episode. We need to water our initiatives with intention and follow through so that we have seeds that sprout. This requires a plan, constant monitoring, and flexibility to respond in the moment so that we align our input with our output. Tune in to get empowered…

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19: Peak and Pit

 Life is full of high’s and low’s, but how we respond to these obstacles can make all the difference in our success, personally and professionally. Learn to use a low moment, or a pit, to reach even higher and more satisfying peaks, or highs. Tune in to this episode to hear just how to do…

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Should School Start at 10 am?

Many years ago, I read an article about high school start times. I found it very interesting in that biologically high school students are more alert and productive later in the day, which explains why they generally sleep in later. It went on to say that adjusting school times to match up with the circadian…

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“Today Is Your Last Day”

Last month, I was conducting a new teacher observation at a local high school when something terribly scary happened. As I walked out of the classroom to head home after the observation, an announcement came over the intercom system saying “LOCKDOWN.” Everyone outside began calmly walking into the nearest building. To me, there was nothing…

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