The ABC's High School Teachers Really Need to Know

It's time we ditch the useless professional development (PD).  That doesn't mean we stop PD - it just means we stop wasting the valuable (and limited) time of educators with tired ideas and inapplicable training.  It's time we provide teachers with meaningful PD  and collaborative opportunities that support and complement their own growth and goals. 

As a teacher, you need to reflect on your lessons and decide if they tend to be built for younger or older students.  As you diversify instruction and assessment, effective teachers also need to balance your mix of "crayon" and "pencil" lessons.  Students are on a spectrum developmentally and academically.  Therefore, if our lessons aren't dynamic on that spectrum as well,...

Teachers play a huge role in helping students achieve their goals and dreams.  However, if we aren't honest with them and don't help them find value in education,  we are likely doing more harm than good.  

We're back and adjusting our format a little this season!  Join us for all new topics and expanded discussions of current events in education that will make all of us better educators.  This week, let's talk about some things in today's academic world that have most of us veterans totally confused....

Effective educators move the needle for their students on standardized test performance.  From curriculum integration and innovative lesson planning to regular practice and parent education, we need to put students in position to be the best version of themselves.  Teachers, because of our unique expertise and relationship-building ability, can help do just that.  We can't strand students on...

From managing our resources to building effective school supply lists and enriching lessons, teachers need to take control of the financial spending and planning in our classrooms.  It's difficult to be effective when the needs of our students aren't met.  Teachers also shouldn't carry the burden of spending personal income on lessons and infrastructure.  We should, however, be lead...

As the cliche goes, education is messy and change is inevitable.  Do yourself and your students a favor - be flexible.  Effective teachers know that improvising, renovating, and adjusting your approach and process are the keys to long-term growth and meaningful success.  

Don't let helicopter parents have a death grip on you or your process.  Use classroom management strategies and policies that promote healthy professional relationships with parents.  Those relationships will subsequently generate better experiences and student outcomes.  

Get out of your comfort zone and venture into the unknown.  As always, exploration and application should  be built into your lessons.  Build a classroom that does not trap students by your own personal strengths and weaknesses.  Be a facilitator that is on a journey of learning with your students.  It makes the process more meaningful for you and them.

It's time for us to accept that students communicate primarily through social media.  Instead of running from it,  teachers should embrace it in their lessons and in their classroom communications.  Effective teachers know that they should focus on leading in technology and modeling responsible use.  

Even if we successfully empower students,  if we don't build in time for exploration, as well as model it consistently, our students will not likely individualize or own the learning.  Effective teachers know that relationships must come before the content.  Help develop those relationships with you, each other, AND the content by building exploration into your lessons.  

While educators can never completely separate business and personal, effective teachers know that finding work-life balance, unplugging, and focusing on personal and professional growth are the keys to both success and improved quality of life.  It's possible to be extremely effective, passionate, and empathetic while still having a boundary between work and your personal life. 

Take a little time and regroup before regrading assessments.  Effective teachers know that making rash or "on the spot" decisions about feedback can negatively impact the learning process and the data.  Encourage students to advocate and ask questions, but don't be quick to add add points, curve grades, or throw out questions.  Always ask "why" students performed the way t...

Effective teachers know that using feedback from assessments is the key to achieving mastery.  Thus,  we can't be scared to reteach.  This may mean our classes across the day don't pace together or even get identical lessons.  Shouldn't that actually be the norm?  If learning is messy and the goal is to achieve mastery, you would certainly expect less standardization.  It has to be...

It may be cliche`, but effective teachers know that it has to be less us and more them.  Our goal should be to partner with them in the learning - not simply preach all day.  Stay passionate about what you're teaching, but remember, they have to be the star.

Effective teachers diversify their assessment strategies.  This should include occasionally giving open-book/note assessments.  These types of  assessments offer another powerful way to assess a student's ability to apply and analyze information, as well as for a teacher to measure his/her own instructional/assessment practices (i.e. amount of memorization, level of real-world application, et...

It's time to change your relationship with standardized testing.  Fair or foul, right or wrong, they are an important metric for identifying where kids are in the learning process.  Are they flawed?  Absolutely.   However, standardized tests  are a metric of learning, and your students need to be successful on them.  We have to stop dwelling on excuses for underperformance.  Instead, we have...

If you're not using the entire classroom to provide both a better experience for your students and an enriched learning process, you're missing out on crucial opportunities to improve outcomes.  From developing effective lessons to diversifying instructional and assessment strategies, the physical classroom plays a major role.  Effective teachers leverage this to generate better students...

Clear role identification is crucial in generating better academic outcomes.  This is particularly true when it comes to the partnership between teachers and school counselors.  Teachers aren't trained counselors.  School counselors aren't always trained teachers.  We have to have clear boundaries, protocols, procedures, and mutual support to work together effectively.  When we do have t...

Effective teachers know that modeling behaviors is hugely impactful in generating positive student outcomes.  However, they also know that modeling has its limits.  It's important to remember that teachers are professionals at work and not children at school.  They should always be treated as professionals.  Also, healthy student-teacher relationships (like parent-child relationships) should...

You know why learning isn't "sticky" for most students?  The answer is not an oversimplification.  The truth is that we simply don't spend enough time reinforcing content and allowing for practice/feedback throughout the academic year.  This affects a student's ability to actually master content, and in turn, leads to poor academic outcomes - especially on standardized exa...

If you haven't done so lately, it's time to inspect your "why".  Why do you teach?  Why are/aren't you happy?  Why are your kids learning/not learning?  Why are you successful/not successful?  These kinds of questions are important because they help you self-reflect on your own motives, needs, and process.  The answers in-turn allow you to better understand yourself, set g...

If you aren't using AI as an educator, you are missing out on both an incredibly useful tool and an important piece of our future.  AI shouldn't be feared.  It should be embraced and taught effectively.  Don't stick your head in the sand or dwell on the negatives.  Instead, direct your energy on generating positive outcomes for your kids using these amazing tools. 

In this episode, we revisit some key priorities with assessment.  Effective teachers know that grading policies have to make sense in order to properly assess mastery.  We have to understand why we do the things we do and how our choices affect our students.  Sound grading practices and feedback must be in the DNA of every classroom's process.

Effective teaching requires students to learn to think and build/analyze arguments.  When you frame content, you are limiting their ability to do just that.  Focus on building capable students that are exposed to both diversity and diverse ideas.  That in turn will help them better understand your lessons and themselves.