Earlier this week I posted a clip of Scott Wells of Goldsmith Primary Academy as he Checked for Understanding with his students. Justifiably, the clip got rave reviews in a recent workshop and online as well. No surprise that- you can see how sharp it is (and some of the highlights from my perspective at least)…
Cognitive load theory describes the relationship between Working and Long-term Memory during learning. Understanding cognitive load theory and its implications for the classroom is one of the most important things teachers can do to improve their instruction. Cognitive load theory focuses us on understanding and addressing the importance of building Long-term Memory. Kirschner, Sweller and…
Show Call is one of my very favorite teaching techniques and if you’re a reader of this blog you know that Spencer Davis is one of our favorite teachers to study. So what could be better than a video of Spencer modeling Show Call. Context: Spencer’s sixth graders are reading Wonder. They’ve just read a passage…
Teaching writing well is one of the most important things we can do in the classroom as teachers. The ability to capture and idea with precision and nuance is deeply connected to the ability to generate ideas of precision and nuance. And as Judith Hochman wisely points out in The Writing Revolution, there’s a big difference…
Had the pleasure of visiting a couple of really good schools in the midst of “bringing students back” over the past couple of weeks. By “bringing kids back” I mean rebuilding intellectual habits and striving to maximize quality of learning given how much kids have lost in the disrupted previous year(s). One of the clear themes…