• Digital Student Portfolios: An Interview with Trevor Mattea and New Books Network

    In August I spoke with Trevor Mattea about my first book on digital portfolios. Below is the summary of our conversation. Click here for a link to the podcast. Enjoy! Most of the time, school performance is not like performance in other arenas. In music, we want people to play something for us. In…

  • What is Metacognition? How Do We Teach It? An Education Week podcast and response

    I recently participated in an Education Week/BAM Radio interview with Larry Ferlazzo, Teresa Diaz and Laura Robb. The topic for our short podcast was metacognition. Click here to listen to the podcast, and read on for my written response on the topic of metacognition. Metacognition is defined as “awareness and understanding of one’s own…

  • Getting Started with Action Research

    I wrote this article for the Stenhouse blog. I am reposting it here as it was. Enjoy! Getting Started with Action Research Matt Renwick We recently facilitated action research for twenty of our district teachers. They came from all areas in grades K–12. The course was led by Dr. Beth Giles and Dr. Mark…

  • Join me for a Twitter chat!

    In a matter of hours, I will be joining the Good to Great (#G2Great) chat for a conversation around the connection betweeen leadership and learning in schools. It’s a great opportunity to answer questions, pose new inquiries online, and engage in real discussions about education. Hope to see you there!

  • Seasons of Change

    Below is an article I co-wrote with two other educators about a year ago. It was rejected by Educational Leadership. I thought mid-summer might be a good time to get it out there for others to read and reflect on. Have a great start to the school year! Seasons of Change By honoring, empowering,…

  • A More Responsive Schoolwide Approach to Student Behavior

    This article was submitted to an online site but was not published. It happens. Now you can enjoy it here. Have a great summer! -Matt Every building has their issues with student behaviors and how to support kids who struggle socially and emotionally in school. We sometimes refer to these students as “frequent flyers” as…

  • What I’m Reading: March 2016

    In the economy of action, effort is a cost, and the acquisition of skill is driven by the balance of benefits and costs. -Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow School conditions matter for student achievement, new research confirms by Alex Zimmerman (Chalkbeat New York, March 24, 2016) Matthew Kraft, an economics and education professor at…

  • What I’m Writing: February 2016

    How Google Apps Help Develop Online Learning Communities (EdTech Magazine K-12) Three tools – Google Groups, Google+ Communities, and Google Sites – are highlighted in this article. Brief directions are provided for readers on how to use these digital forums for online learning communities. Also included in the article are some suggestions for getting things…

  • Webinar: Use Digital Portfolios with Maximum Impact

    I recently co-facilitated two webinars with Laura Stewart at FreshGrade (www.freshgrade.com) about using digital portfolios with students to maximize learning. One of the archived webinars is embedded below. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZWMcrGXwUk]

  • What I’m Writing: December 2015

    Maximize Learning, Not Technology (ASCD EDge, October 2015) In this promotional post for my new book, I highlight specific examples of how the necessary vs. nice dichotomy applies to classroom technology choices. For example, having one device for every learner in a classroom would be nice, but the lack of academic benefits identified with this type of…