August 14, 2016 at 6:50 PM

The following posts and interviews about literacy, leadership, school culture, and joyful learning have appeared over the past year on various sites. As all are related to improving and sustaining student learning across the curriculum, I share them together with hopes of inspiring your ongoing professional learning and providing practical ideas. 

Blog Posts

10 Lessons about Life, Literacy and Learning
MiddleWeb, July 20, 2016
I took up tennis again after a 25-year absence. What I learned made me think more deeply about teaching, learning, and living.

Teacher Education, Not Teacher Training
edCircuit, February 1, 2016
This blog was written in response to recent research and discussion on teacher “training” and discusses how professional development must be high level education that focuses on “collaborative expertise” (Hattie 2015) and a long term commitment to improving student learning.

10 Surefire Ideas to Remove Writing Roadblocks
MiddleWeb, January 10, 2016
Teaching writing well is not as hard as you think. Yes, it’s a challenge, but it can be exhilarating.

How to Fill Your Class with Joyful Learning
MiddleWeb, September 1, 2015
Use the Optimal Learning Model when integrating the teaching of reading and writing into the content areas. Your students will become highly effective and joyful readers, writers, and thinkers.

A Good Learning Model for New Teachers
MiddleWeb, June 28, 2015
Understanding the Optimal Learning Model for effective teaching is compared to learning how to do anything well, for example, making a fruit tart.

Interviews

Moving From a Low-Trust to High-Trust School Culture
Interview with Amanda Koonlaba, BAM Radio Network, March 29, 2016
This interview addresses the problems in high-poverty schools and how creating a high-trust culture can lead to high achievement for all learners.

Literacy’s Relationship With Education
Interview with Rod Berger of edCircuit, February 2, 2016
This interview discusses key issues and challenges facing teachers and leaders in today’s schools; how it’s essential that principals know literacy and that teachers are leaders in order for schools to thrive; and what we must do to create a school culture of high expectations, expert teachers, and joyful learners.