As a new principal, I realized that I have a tragic flaw when it comes to leadership. To flip an old cliché, my issue is that I often don't see the trees for the forest. I am a big picture thinker to a fault. As a teacher, focusing on the [...]
On the first day of class every year, I have a student volunteer come up to the front of the classroom, and I teach them how to putt a golf ball. I use tape to put a straight line on my floor, and I demonstrate how it is possible [...]
One of my favorite scenes in literature is where Tom Sawyer convinces all the boys in the neighborhood to whitewash the fence for him, a task he had been given as punishment. Not only does he not have to do the work, but his friends all empty their pockets of [...]
Competency-based education focuses on student learning and mastery of skills, not seat time. Many schools have begun to, or have already shifted to this type of model. Students can benefit from competency-based education because it's more flexible, and ensures that they really learn a concept. It's not based on [...]
-- Trent C, Grade 9 FLT is the name of a flexible block program at a high school in New Hampshire that allows students to have time in the school day for intervention and enrichment. This time gives students a voice and boosts academic achievement and overall social-emotional health. [...]
Making the shift to a competency-based learning environment may seem like an overwhelming task. For administrators, how do you get everyone on board? As a teacher, how do you manage the shifts in grading and curriculum? And what about if you're a parent or a student? How do you [...]
"...we didn’t set out to become a competency based learning environment. We had actually simply asked the question -- building a vision mission etc. -- “What is it that we want for our learners?” and we started to build from there. And we felt like the PLC model really [...]
A major component of competency-based education revolves around the idea of measuring student achievement by mastery of a skill, not how long they've spent in a classroom. So, if seat time, or even number grades, are not being used, how is a student's success actually measured in competency-based education? [...]
What are 'Employability Skills?' In short, employability skills are just what they sound like. Real world skills that will help you get a job. Some students may feel like that the things they are learning are useless, that the only skills they are developing are how to efficiently work [...]
If you’re in the education sphere, you've likely heard of competency based education. It’s been growing in popularity across the country, and rapidly becoming the focus of not only higher educational curriculum, but secondary schools as well. Competency based education focuses, not simply on grades, but outcomes based on actual [...]