Visionary Blog Posts
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Active Learning is Better Than Passive Learning in Today’s Classrooms
Passive Learning vs Active Learning: What’s the Difference? In many classrooms, learning still looks like this: students sit quietly, listen to...
How To Improve Your Exit Ticket Strategy
Exit tickets are one of the most commonly used formative assessment strategies in classrooms.But here’s the...
No More Sit and Get PD: Why Active Learning Professional Development Actually Works
For years, educators have been asked to transform classrooms—to increase student engagement, foster critical thinking, and create...
Kick Off the New School Year with These Back to School Activities
Here are five tried-and-true back to school activities that encourage collaboration, communication, and a strong sense of belonging:
Student Engagement Made Easy with HLP 18
In today’s classrooms, engagement isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the lifeblood of effective teaching. High-Leverage Practice 18 (HLP 18), "Use...
Free Resources That Will Support Student-Led IEPs
The concept of student led IEPs is catching on, as it should. Teachers are relinquishing some control and allowing students with disabilities to...
Student-LED IEP: A Pathway to Important Life Skills
Student-led IEPs allow youth with disabilities to play prominent roles in the development of their individualized education program (IEP). When a...
Superior Questioning Techniques to Use in the Classroom
Asking open-ended questions is an important part of teaching for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that questioning can...
Five Senses, One Lesson: Why Multisensory Instruction is Powerful
Have you ever smelled something that instantly took you back to another time or place? Perhaps you have tasted a particular food, felt a texture,...
How to Make Your Professional Development Exciting & Effective!
Let’s admit that a lot of professional development (PD) is subpar- boring & ineffective. Regardless of what we call our adult learning...
The Truth About Equity in Schools
Equity in schools is a hot button issue. Educators work hard to provide the best possible instruction for their students. Some people...
Think-Pair-Share-Pair-Share: A New Twist on a Classic Teaching Strategy
Think-Pair-Share-Pair-Share: A New Twist on a Classic Teaching Strategy by Daniel Biegun If you are a veteran teacher, you are likely familiar with...
Trust Me, You Need to Try These Innovative Exit Tickets!
Exit Tickets are growing in popularity across the field of education, and for good reason. A thoughtfully-crafted Exit Ticket activity can provide...
7 Teaching Strategies That Will Lead to an Amazing Year
As I write this post, teachers across the world are returning to their classrooms for a new school year. Educators are always looking for new...
Icebreaker Bingo: The Ultimate Getting to Know You Game
Icebreaker Bingo is the ultimate getting-to-know-you activity for large groups. It is perfect for students at the beginning of a school year or for...
Excellent Ways to Foster Student Choice in the Classroom
Student choice is very important. Think about your own learning preferences. Do you prefer to work alone or in small groups? Do you prefer to learn...
100 Great Questions for the ‘Turn Your Camera On If’ Game
The Turn Your Camera On If game has become very popular over the past year and a half. The game is also frequently called Camera On Camera Off and...
Multisensory Instruction: Powerful Strategies for All Learners
Have you ever smelled something that instantly took you back to another time or place? Perhaps you have tasted a particular food, felt a texture, or...
Powerful Would You Rather Questions for Virtual or Face-to-Face Experiences
This blog has allowed me to share ideas with educators across the United States and around the world. It has been very interesting to note which...
Formative Assessment vs. Summative Assessment: Which is Better?
In classrooms across America, summative assessment is the reigning, undisputed champion when it comes to collecting data on what students have...
How to Make Student-Led IEPs a Reality
When some of us hear the term student-led IEP, we might envision a student sitting at the head of the table and running the meeting. If possible, this degree of leadership would be great, but for many students with disabilities, leadership may look different.
More Brain Breaks That Energize, Engage, & Focus Virtual Students
As follows are a few more exciting brain breaks that students of all ages might enjoy. You may also notice that although these particular brain breaks are well-suited for virtual learners, they will also work well in face-to-face or hybrid situations.
The Practical Side of UDL: Ideas That Will Engage & Inspire
Let’s explore the 3 brain networks associated with UDL. As related posts, videos, and resources are published, they will be hyperlinked below. The items that are not currently hyperlinked represent great content that will be offered in the near future, so please bookmark this post and check back often.
Become a Better Teacher by Embracing Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a hot topic in education. Many UDL-related books, websites, and research articles are long on jargon...
Let’s Go! Ten of the Most Amazing Virtual Field Trips
Field trips are one of the great joys of school for many students. They get to leave school and generalize learnings by interacting with...
The Pause Procedure: Offering Learners Time to Process & Reflect
Teachers tend to know a lot. It can be too easy to try cramming too much content into short amounts of class time. Research tells us that we should periodically pause during our lessons and allow students time to process and reflect. This strategy is important for all educators, whether teaching in K-12, lecturing for a college, or training adults.
10 Powerful Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do on Zoom
Here are 10 easy tips and tricks that will take your next Zoom meeting to the next level.
Here is The Most Important Thing That Great Teachers Do When Asking Questions
Think about when you are asking questions to your class. Does this sound familiar?: You are ask a question and one or two of your eager learners are...
Highlighting Some ‘How To’ Videos that Will Energize Your Virtual Instruction
Great teachers often pause to review previously discussed content with students. This is done, in part, to ensure that important concepts don't get...
Your Students Will Love Using the Stamp Tool During Zoom Lessons.
Annotation Tools, including the Stamp Tool, on Zoom and other virtual platforms tend to be underutilized. These tools can be very powerful and...
Brain Breaks That Will Energize, Engage, & Focus Your Virtual Students
Teachers have known about brain breaks for years, but there has never been a better time to use them than now. Virtual students sit in front of...
How to Enhance Would You Rather Games on Zoom
Would You Rather is such a popular classroom game that many teachers are seeking ideas for how to play it online with their virtual learners. We...
Check Out These Amazing Ideas for Virtual Breakout Rooms
While educators continue to hone their virtual teaching skills, breakout rooms remain one of the most underutilized features on Zoom and other...
These Strategies are Guaranteed to Make Your Asynchronous Instruction Meaningful
Asynchronous learning has certainly become more common in light of the 2020 COVID reality, but it may remain a part of public education going...
21 New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers in 2021 (Part 3)
Here it is- the third and final section of potential New Year’s resolutions. If you have not already done so, go back and check out Part 1 and Part...
21 New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers in 2021 (Part 2)
Welcome to the second blog post of a 3-part series on potential resolutions for teachers. Be sure to check out Part 1 if you have not already done...
How to Take Authentic Student Data During Virtual Instruction
Educators are constantly finding new ways to provide students with the quality instruction that they need. But what do the teachers need? One...
An Innovative Way to Show Videos During Virtual Teaching
Showing short video clips during virtual teaching can be beneficial. The trick is to ensure that you have an activity planned around a video...
Professional Development for Teachers: 5 Ways to Make it Better!
The field of education flipped upside down in early 2020. As face-to-face classes were shut down, educators had to reconsider how to do their jobs....
10 Reasons to be Thankful for Teachers
We should all be thankful for teachers. They work extra hard for their students and typically receive modest returns for their efforts. At present,...
Science Choice Boards: A Formula for Authentic Assessment
This post will be short on theory and long on materials that you can use with your class. We have previously...
5 Soft Openers That All Virtual Teachers Should Know
Soft openers are pre-planned activities that take place before class officially starts. These activities typically take the form of games and...
Three Virtual/Hybrid Exit Tickets That You Should Try Immediately
Exit Tickets are formative assessment activities that teachers use to collect valuable data. They can answer any number of important...
How to Use Simile Cards Across Content Areas
Let’s acknowledge that similes are not just for English class. Similes can present creative, fun, and deep means of synthesizing information...
Exposing the Truth About On-Task Behavior
We hear a lot of well-meaning educators talk about the importance of students being on-task. Are they making eye contact while the...
How to Engage Your Whole Class with Pinch Cards
Teachers are always looking for new ways to engage and educate students. Pinch cards offer simple, but powerful opportunities for students to...
Choice Boards: A Powerful Way to Engage & Assess Your Students
Using choice boards just makes sense! Every individual student represents a unique blend of strengths, interests, needs, experiences, and background...
Opportunities to Respond That Improve Engagement & Learning
Opportunities to respond (OTR) include instances where teachers elicit answers or responses from students. Unfortunately, the traditional OTR...
Make Your Own Individual White Boards with Household Items
Individual white boards are an extremely versatile instructional tool in both face-to-face and virtual settings. Teachers can pose a...
Scavenger Hunt! Energize Your Class with this Ultimate Virtual Brain Break!
When we are teaching in a face-to-face classroom, it is always a great idea to utilize a Brain Break when needed. Virtual Learners also...
How To Play ‘Would You Rather?’ During a Virtual Lesson
Would You Rather? is both a classic ice breaker game and a powerful educational activity. I find that many teachers are aware...
How to Entice Students to Turn Their Cameras On During Virtual Instruction
Teachers tend to want students to turn their cameras on during synchronous virtual instruction. Unfortunately, many teachers find that their...
Simple Tools for Dynamic Virtual Instruction
Many of us prefer the face-to-face, personal interactions afforded by a typical school year. Unfortunately, none of us are experiencing a...