Remote Learning Challenges

Posted on February 2, 2021 Written by

Our state has numerous school districts in predominately rural areas. Some Arkansas schools (Oark is a good example) serve students in extremely isolated areas.

This article takes a look at the impact remote learning is having on students in these settings and some of the challenges they face. As the pandemic continues, I’m simply sharing this to remind you that if you’re in a similar situation, you’re not alone.

Note: Tips and techniques for helping teachers/administrators improve remote learning can be found elsewhere in this Blog.

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Crisis Management

Posted on January 19, 2021 Written by

There’s an old Irish curse: “May you live in interesting times!”

In addition to the usual challenges of administration, many districts continue to struggle with increasing economic insecurity and the ongoing COVID crisis … not to mention racial violence, massive wildfires, and even hurricanes! Interesting times, indeed.

This article discusses a variety of unexpected challenges faced by district administrators across the country, and how these leaders learned new communication and engagement strategies to help them navigate the kinds of events that schools can’t always plan for.

May the insights they gained by overcoming these obstacles provide inspiration for your future practice.

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Strategies to Engage Students

Posted on January 5, 2021 Written by

We’ve talked extensively in this blog about the importance of engaging students in learning. And as you know, it’s also a major focus of Schmoker’s Effective Teaching model.

This article offers yet another look at this vital instructional component. It reviews the findings of GoGuardian’s “2020: State of Engagement Report“ and offers a concise list of areas you should examine to support and facilitate engaging your students in learning.

BTW, according to the director of the research project, “These elements are immensely transferable both in the online and in-person classroom and can facilitate a positive learning environment, whether in a synchronous or asynchronous setting.”

And that’s an added bonus in these challenging times!

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The Importance of Brain Breaks

Posted on December 8, 2020 Written by

Want your students (or teachers) to learn more effectively? Research by John Sweller and others suggests that taking more “brain breaks” is the key.

This article discusses “cognitive load theory,” and reminds us that the human brain has a fairly limited ability to hold thoughts or new ideas in working memory. This has huge implications not only for how we teach, but how we conduct our workshops and seminars.

A related concept is Schmoker’s “chunking” strategy. He suggests instructional presentations always need to be divided into “chunks” of no more than five to seven minutes, with opportunities to process the information in between. (For details, see slide #7 from the presentation slides in the Effective Teaching section).

Bottom line? In a society that increasingly demands “more, more,” wise educators know that sometimes “more is less.”

References:

Schmoker, M. (2018). Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning (2nd ed., p. 92). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Sweller, J. (2010). Cognitive load theory: Recent theoretical advances. In J. L. Plass, R. Moreno, & R. Brünken (Eds.), Cognitive load theory (p. 29–47). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511844744.004

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