A flex period, also referred to as a flex block, activity period, WIN time, advisory (and more), is something many schools have added or are thinking about adding to their school schedule. Why? Flex periods allow teachers to give students time, for extra help, remediation, intervention, enrichment, genius hour, [...]
We all want to fit in among our peers. When we're little kids wanting to play together on the playground, when we're teens in middle school anxious for the approval of our classmates, and when we're adults out in the job force -- no one wants to feel left [...]
As a school administrator, how can you create effective school staff meetings? Likely, you’ve been in all kinds of meetings -- some productive and even inspiring, others...not so much. What makes a great staff meeting? We’d love to hear your thoughts! We’ve collected a list of eight things that [...]
"...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 [...]
What makes or breaks a new program at a school? Often, preparedness and having all (or most) staff onboard. All of the systems of support need to be in place. If a school is considering adding a flex period to their school schedule for extra help, intervention, remediation, enrichment, [...]
Does your school have a Professional Learning Community? If you do, what does this look like? More importantly… Is it something you look forward to? Even if you do not have one at your school, likely you’ve heard of them. Professional Learning Communities. What are they? Is this just [...]
RTI refers to Response to Intervention – a model and plan of action to care for the academic needs of students. This model is often illustrated by a 3 tiered pyramid. The bottom represents general instruction given to all students. The middle section, or tier 2 instruction is more [...]
Passion is a crucial part of successful learning. Why? Because when students care about what they’re doing, their learning will improve. For one, it helps students to be more creative thinkers. They can find a purpose and gain confidence in their school experience -- something that may especially benefit [...]
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 [...]