Theory and Practice

  • New Book Project – ASCD Arias

    Yesterday, I signed a contract with ASCD to write a book for the Arias series. The topic will be about debunking some of the technology myths that seem to linger in education. It is a short-form publication, around 10,000 words, so we are looking at a publication date of August 2015. Since that’s only four months away, I…

  • Connected Collaboration

    Permit yourself the luxury of doing just one thing. -Lao Tzu Using Professional Learning Communities to Bolster Comprehension Instruction by Katherine A. Dougherty Stahl (The Reading Teacher, February 2015) This associate professor from New York University shares some insights on how to develop collaborative learning experiences around reading instruction. She suggests past “Research into…

  • Time and Money

    The Art of Giving and Receiving Advice by David A. Garvin and Joshua D. Margolis (Harvard Business Review, January/February 2015) Two Harvard business professors explore the two roles that often play out in professional settings: Advisor and advisee. This article relates well to teachers, administrators, and instructional coaches. They identify the many hurdles involved in…

  • Social Identities

    I teach only the truth – but that shouldn’t make you believe it. – Martin Fischer Why Your Customers’ Social Identities Matter by Guy Champniss, Hugh N. Wilson, and Emma K. Macdonald (Harvard Business Review, January/February 2015) Three business professors and researchers explain the importance of social identities. This concept can be defined as the…

  • The New Tests

    Everything you have ever wanted, is on the other side of fear. – George Addair ‘The good teachers are starting to leave’ by Valerie Strauss (The Washington Post, February 27, 2015) Strauss, a reporter and a former teacher, posts a letter that a high school English teacher wrote to the incoming state superintendent in Georgia. Susan…

  • DisruptEd

    disrupt, \dis-ˈrəpt\, verb: to cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way : to interrupt the normal progress or activity of (something) – Merriam-Webster Dictionary Disruptive Innovations in Reading Research and Practice by Susan B. Neuman and Linda B. Gambrell (Reading Research Quarterly, January/February/March 2-15) The editors of this literacy research journal explore…

  • Reader/Thinker

    People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy. – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience) The Relationship of Print Reading in Tier 1 Instruction and Reading Achievement for Kindergarten Students…

  • The Networking, Ever-Present, Highly Connected School Leader

    No jail cell or straight jacket could hold him! He shucked off handcuffs as easily as gloves. – Sid Fleischman (Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini) Challenges and Successes: Online Communities of Practice by Ann Ware (Ed Tech: Focus on K-12, Winter 2015) The role of the school leader has always been an…

  • New Literacies

    We were never born to read. – Maryanne Wolf Creating Digital Authors by Melody Zoch, Brooke Langston-DeMott, and Melissa Adams-Budde (Phi Delta Kappan, November 2014) Three literacy education professors see opportunities that technology can afford in today’s classrooms. They draw on others’ work in defining new literacies: New ways of reading and writing made available…

  • BlendEd

    Unlearning is more difficult than learning something new, and one of our most important challenges is to let go of existing structures in order to build more effective ones. – Alan November, from his book Who Owns the Learning? Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age (Solution Tree, 2012) Hybrid Classes Outlearn Traditional…