As an eighth grade science teacher, one of the neatest parts of my job is that all students who are learning English as an additional language are mainstreamed into my classroom for content instruction. But that also presents a challenge: How can a student who
Let’s start with a simple albeit uncomfortable truth: The goal of educators in a professional learning community isn’t to ensure that all students reach proficiency. Instead, the goal is to ensure that all students learn at the highest levels. That might seem like a small
It’s been an interesting few weeks for me. Since writing about the lunacy of punitive grading policies, I’ve been wrastlin’ with teachers on the Twitters who believe that giving zeros and rigidly enforcing deadlines is essential because it “teaches students responsibility.” I knew that would
I stumbled across an article in my news stream this morning that has me all riled up. Titled Virginia Teachers Fire Back After School System Mulls Implementing More ‘Equitable’ Grading System, it details an open letter that a group of high school teachers in the
Regular readers of Building Confident Learners probably know that I recently coauthored a book with Tim Brown on the steps that teachers can take to build the self-efficacy of their students. Titled You Can Learn: Building Student Ownership, Motivation and Efficacy with the PLC at
