“Can I have more practice?
This year, more than ever, my students are saying things like, “I’m not quite ready for the conference yet. I want to watch this video again”, “Are there any more practice problems?”, “Can you check this for me before I do more, to make sure I’m on the right track?”, “Can I explain this to […]
Tracking Progress and Metacognition
This week, we’re sharing one teacher’s journey to find tracking systems that work for her high school math class. When technology and the internet make raw information so readily accessible, we as teachers need to shift our focus from teaching content to teaching student how to learn. One of the important aspects in becoming an […]
Student Self Assessment Practices That Work
Understanding how we learn best is one of the keys to growth as human beings. This essential metacognitive skill is not innate and must be modeled and taught in school starting as early as possible. The way it looks for different age groups will be different, obviously as younger students are not always cognitively ready […]
Setting Goals for the Upcoming School Year
Once the school year is underway, it is easy to fall into routines, get sucked into PLCs, providing feedback on student work, daily lesson planning, and more. We can easily lose sight of our purpose and intentions. Before the students arrive and meetings start to pile up, take a quiet moment to think deeply about […]
Portfolios Tell a More Robust Story of Student Learning Than Tests Scores Alone
I work with a lot of brilliant students. I’m sure you do, too – students who are articulate, creative, curious, innovative changemakers who will create huge ripples in the world. Annie started the Gender and Sexuality Alliance, Richie volunteered to build a CNC machine for the engineering center, Dannie launched a website to raise awareness […]
Graduation: Not and End but a Stepping Stone
The seniors at my school graduated last Saturday. It is tradition for all the faculty to wear gowns and march behind a bagpiper playing “Pomp and Circumstance” with the seniors following close behind. The faculty lines up in two rows on either side of a red carpet. The seniors march between us and passed rows […]
Outsource Memories and Create Metrics for Growth and Change with Reflection
How are you feeling right now? Maybe you’re energized and bubbling with ideas for next year? On the other hand, maybe you’re burned out, ready for sunshine and days reading in your backyard? Either way, the end of the school year is the most powerful season for reflection. Why Reflect? For one year I wrote […]
Let Go of the Reins to Allow for Student Self-Advocacy
Let Go of the Reins to Allow for Student Self-Advocacy Written By Starr Sackstein Control, the false sense of knowing the outcome as the plan is put into action. Tightly holding the reins, manipulating the space to achieve a perceived understanding of success, all to maintain the illusion. Does this sound familiar? This is how […]
Bringing Reflection into Your Classroom: Why It Matters
Listen to this podcast featuring Starr Sackstein and Robert Pennington to learn why student reflection is so essential to mastery and how to bring reflection into your classroom successfully. Follow on Twitter: @robpennington9 @MsSackstein @ASCD @bamradionetwork Are you interested in learning more about reflection practices? Connect with a Mastery Portfolio team member.
Deepen Reflection, Deepen Learning
Teachers can learn a lot from asking students to reflect and self-assess against the standards and we do the students and ourselves a disservice by not making it an expectation. Perhaps writing a reflection like this isn’t appropriate for every class, maybe a video or voice recording would be better.
