LessonCast helps learning communities design professional development that targets specific needs and changes instructional practice. We support a continuum of professional learning that spans support for teachers new to the classroom, experienced teachers with expertise to share, and leaders guiding a community in improving instruction. Why I became a teacher
2013-05-22 13:48:02
Growing up, I never thought about becoming a teacher. I wanted to be an actress or dancer or singer....
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Why I became a teacher
Growing up, I never thought about becoming a teacher. I wanted to be an actress or dancer or singer. As a teenager with visions of becoming a triple threat, I performed with companies and took classes in New York. I was accepted to the Tisch School of the Arts, but couldn’t rationalize accruing such a looming debt after I earned a scholarship to the University of Virginia. I figured that I’d major in communications and get my start in television. Lo and behold upon my arrival to Charlottesville, I found …
The Common Core Conundrum – Why We Can Set the How or the What but not Both
Once upon a time, I learned that in leading a school initiative I could specify the how or I could specify the what, but if the initiative was to be successful I couldn’t specify both. As a school and district leader, one of my key roles was to facilitate a collective vision – establish the what that we were working towards. I could also set specific procedures or require a process to be followed. If I tried to mandate both – the what and the how – for a single …
What’s Behind Good Teaching
How can we see what great teaching really looks like? This is a question that reoccurred for me after reading Nancy Flanagan’s “What Does Good Teaching Look Like?“ In her blog, she explains that this is a question that she would frequently use in a starter exercise presenting to candidates in the National Board Certification process. While the conversation could go on and on, rarely would she hear, “What the teacher was thinking–and how he made decisions as the lesson unfolded. Whether the teacher had clear learning goals, and if her …
Design with the Future in Mind
This week while attending SXSWedu sessions, “personalized learning” is all a buzz. As I listen to the panels and engage in conversation, I worry that the discussion lacks a clear grasp of the concrete implications for rethinking classrooms, student learning, and teaching roles. I’ve already written about my realizations that some of the current constructs for “delivering instruction” are not going to survive true personalized learning environments (see Slow Death of the Lesson Plan). Now I’m realizing that some of the tools that are being presented as forward thinking are …
The Slow Death of the Lesson Plan
As I work with schools in designing and developing personalized learning models for students and teachers, I’m starting to realize that the lesson plan is on the verge of transitioning to a slow uncomfortable death. A traditional lesson plan includes an objective, time and materials required, anticipatory set/warm up/drill, procedures (direct instruction/guided and independent practice), assessment, and closure. This is what I learned in my teacher preparation program, what I had to have available upon request as a teacher, and what was given to me as a school administrator during …
The Lessons We Teach Our Children: Why the end can’t justify unjust means
This post is very unlike my other blog entries, but I just have to write about an incident that happened this weekend, mainly because I am so infuriated… Friday evening, my husband, two kids, brother, and pet boxer head down I-95 to travel from Baltimore to Apex, North Carolina to attend my great uncle’s funeral. After numerous snack stops and bathroom breaks, we finally near the homestretch as I turn from the main parkway to the residential neighborhood where my cousin lives. I notice in my rearview mirror that two …
