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. The Common Core Conundrum – Why We Can Set the How or the What but not Both
2013-05-02 12:17:50
Once upon a time, I learned that in leading a school initiative I could specify the how or I could s...
Category Archives: EditorBlog
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 …
Feature in ED Week Teacher
After Nicole Tucker-Smith presented at the ASCD Annual Conference in Chicago, Liana Heitin from Education Week’s blog Teaching Now wrote a positive post about the session and explained how LessonCast is flipping teacher PD. See a six-minute version of the presentation.
LessonCast Presents at Columbia TechBreakfast
Nicole Tucker-Smith, Founder & CEO, shared a demonstration of LessonCast at the Columbia, Maryland TechBreakfast. Live demo and Q&A in under 10 minutes – Check out the video:
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 …
