Starting Strong: The First Five Minutes of Class
This summer I read a book called Small Teaching by James M. Lang. Even though I have been teaching for 28 years (gasp!), have a Masters degree in Education and secondary school teaching certification, I learned a ton from this book. I thought maybe I would dedicate...
My Cadillac Floats
I pulled my Cadillac out of the lake last night. Without the proper context, that would seem like a drastic way to start a conversation. My Cadillac is a 1950’s boat, made by Cadillac, which includes the classic scrolling Cadillac logo. It is a massive boat, and on...
Testing, a Follow Up
The book "Make it Stick" by Brown et. al, (2014) is a wonderful research-based how-to guide for promoting learning-as in remembering. In particular, the book discusses testing. It is helpful for exploring exactly how to make long term learning (and remembering) occur...
Preparing For The Worst
In the years 2001-2006 Israel experienced devastating terrorist attacks on civilians. This was the worst period in its history and the threat of terrorism was felt throughout the country. Today, there are still terrorist attacks, but Israel is now a global leader in...
I’ll be honest, I’m resentful: Drills, Trauma, and Learning
A few years ago, I was teaching a summer class when we did a lock down safety drill. I was forewarned that the lock down would occur and instructed to turn off lights, lock the door, pull down shades, and have students put away all electronics when the signal was...
Low Floor High Ceiling Tasks
I first heard of low floor high ceiling math tasks on a K-12 math blog. It’s an interesting concept; find a task that everyone in the class can start and that adequately challenges all students. To say the least, I was skeptical, so I tried it out. My first attempt...
ML & U
If you haven't heard the acronyms ML (Machine Learning) or NLP (Natural Language Processing) being tossed about in relationship to artificial intelligence (AI), that's good because the technology shouldn't be the focus, but rather how it affects you and the way you...
NMC Frequency: Season 2, Episode 5: The Power of Story: NMC Narratives
The NMC Frequency podcast is back for another round of the 4x4 Writing Challenge. Listen to our latest episode below and use the commenting feature to let us know about interesting NMC Narratives that we could feature in our upcoming episodes. Check out the NMC...
Experiential Scouting
Boy Scouts (now Scouts BSA) have been around since 1907 after Lt. General Robert Baden-Powell re-wrote his “Aids to Scouting” manual (originally published in 1903). In 1910 Scouting came to the United States. During the last 109 years in the United States, Scouts BSA...
You’re Invited! 4x4x16 Writing Challenge
This is year 7 of the Writing Challenge! And in honor of the "Be What's Possible" campaign, we would love for you to "Write What's Possible!" Each year the writing challenge has grown and this year we would love to have a record-setting number of people...