“Man must shape his tools lest they shape him.” -Arthur Miller
“An architect’s most useful tools are an eraser at the drafting board, and a wrecking bar at the site.” -Frank Lloyd Wright
Many of you have counted down the days till you received a much deserved spring break.…
“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world… The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way … people look at reality, then you can change it.”…
“Language permits us to see. Without the word, we are all blind.” –Carlos Fuentes
“Language is not merely a means of expression and communication; it is an instrument of experiencing, thinking, and feeling … Our ideas and experiences are not independent of language; they are all integral parts of the same pattern, the warp and woof of the same texture.…
“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.” -Thomas Henry Huxley
I’ve been receiving a lot of questions about Tabor Rotation (a highly successful, research-based strategy for rigorously differentiating instruction in mathematics) and how to implement the essential components of T.R.…
“We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.” -Lloyd Alexander
“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” -Albert Einstein
I was never more aware of how important hands-on instruction is until I taught concepts like decimals.…
“Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven’t fallen asleep yet.” -Anonymous
Welcome to March, April, and the 1st half of May. For most people in the United States, this means the coming of warmer weather and spring. For teachers and schools it is the season of state tests.…
“Now, go “think” about it!”
I was in a school a few weeks ago and heard this phrase being repeated by a math teacher after discussing a difficult concept with her students. I woke up the next morning at 5:30am—partly because there was a large truck backing up and beeping loudly—but mostly because that phrase had reminded me of a student I had named Reggie.…
“There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish.” Warren G. Bennis
“I’m always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day I find something creative to do with my life.” …
“Once you have experienced excellence, you will never again be content with mediocrity.” – Thomas S. Monson
Are you ready to challenge yourself by trying another strategy for differentiating instruction? One that has been successfully used by many educators is tiering instruction. Tiering an assignment is using varied levels of the activity to make sure that all students explore ideas at a readiness level that builds on their prior knowledge and deepens understanding of the identified concepts.…
“We are all functioning at a small fraction of our capacity to live full in [life’s] total meaning of love, caring, creating, and adventuring. Consequently, the actualizing of our potential can become the most exciting adventure of our lifetime.” -Herbert Otto
Since the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, I have worked with many schools to assist them in effectively planning for math instruction using small groups and differentiated strategies.…
