Positivity and the “Lost Year” of Education: Interview with Kim Morton
As we settle into our “new normal,” returning to in-person instruction, there is some lingering anxiety over what it will take to recover from the past school year and what disruptions might await us in the year ahead. Kim Morton is an elementary school principal at the Leadership Academy in Vista Unified School District, in […]
Students Must Wish to Be in School: Interview with Carlos Nascimento Jr.
One way Carlos Nascimento Jr., coordinator of grades 4-9 at the Concept School in Brazil, got through the challenging 2020-21 school year was by leveraging the Habits of Mind. “The Habits of Mind were very powerful during the pandemic,” Nascimento told Allison Zmuda during an interview, “because it helped us to bring students to the […]
How Leaders Can Grow a Culture for Active and Inclusive Engagement: Focusing on VOICE
Since the spring of 2020 due to COVID, many of our school meetings are virtual so it is even more important to pay attention to how to engage participants making certain that every person is seen as a respected and valued participant. How can I, as a leader in my school community, use the attribute […]
How Leaders Can Grow a Culture for Active and Inclusive Engagement: Focusing on CO-CREATION
In this stressful school year due to COVID, worries about student achievement, and general health of school families, how can we collectively identify the most critical issues or problems that require a deeper level of dialogue and possible action? (Note: Co-Creation is one of the four attributes of personalized learning). When we invite staff members […]
How Leaders Can Grow a Culture for Active and Inclusive Engagement: Focusing on SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
When seeking new ideas or learning how others are dealing with a complex situation such as the one we have been coping with for the past year, there is real power in feeling that you are not alone. With social construction, there is a sense of camaraderie when teachers recognize and seek out collaboration with […]
How Leaders Can Grow a Culture for Active and Inclusive Engagement: Focusing on SELF-DISCOVERY
Over the scope of this pandemic, we have been put in an environment where we have to learn new skills, knowledge, and performances as we meet the challenges of our day-to-day practices. As professionals, we sometimes forget how much we are learning and the impact it is having on our students, families, and ourselves. We […]
4 Practical Examples Of How To Grow Self-Direction In Your Students
In the previous post, we outlined the three selfies — self-managing, self-monitoring, and self-modifying — to develop requisite behaviors for self-directed learning. Let’s now take a look at a few examples. Each example has a short description as well as annotated commentary on its connection to 16 Habits of Mind and 4 Attributes of Personalized Learning. Example […]
Coaching For The Three “Selfies” — Self-Managing, Self-Monitoring, Self-Modifying
COVID-19 has created unprecedented and unique challenges for teaching and learning. We recognize the urgent need for students to become more self-directed and we can benefit from the decades of research on this topic. Two key findings continue to provide hope and guidance for how to develop this in our students. 1. Self directed learning […]
How To Encourage Self-Directed Practices In Our Students
Many teachers are desperate to see the active sense-making when students feel more ownership and responsibility for their learning. How might we move students from needing to be spoon-fed to developing their capacity to become more self-directed? It starts with a candid reflection on what you are seeing in their behaviors and actions and how […]