Tag: teachers

Advice for Brand New Teachers: You Don’t Have to Impress People

From Mastery by Robert Greene

Reflecting on my first year in the classroom, I was utterly obsessed with impressing everyone. Maybe it was because I came to teaching as a second career. Maybe it was due to my involvement at conferences and summits, even as a brand-new teacher.

Whatever my reasons for wanting to show everyone how good I was, those reasons led me down a path of exhaustion and stress that did nothing for my health and certainly didn’t help me when I wasn’t at school.

So, to help out any new teachers, I thought I’d pass on some advice I wish I’d known when I started teaching. Hopefully, you can avoid the stress, anxiety, and exhaustion I experienced and live a balanced life while still being a fantastic teacher.

You don’t need to be perfect — no one is

Perfectionism is a curse. The voice in your head tells you that you’re not good enough and that you need to try harder and do more. It’s the constant striving for an unattainable goal. And it’s exhausting.

I should know. I’m a perfectionist. I’ve always been a high achiever and always strived to be the best. And it’s taken its toll. I’ve spent hours obsessing over minor details that no one else would even notice. I’ve put immense pressure on myself to succeed, and as a result, I’ve often felt like a failure.

As a teacher, I work with perfectionists all the time — students who are afraid to make mistakes and who are afraid to take risks. And working with them has made me realize that perfectionism is a Learned Behavior — something we can unlearn.

Your students don’t need you to be perfect. They don’t need for your fantastic lesson to always happen exactly the way you envisioned. In fact, you likely already know that the perfect lesson rarely happens. If you’re like me and teach the same topic several times daily, you change something during every class period.

And sometimes, things still don’t work.

Your students need to see that you’re not afraid to fail or to try something new. They need to see you participate in the productive struggle. You don’t have to be perfect.

We can choose to let go of the need to be perfect, and in doing so, we can live happier, healthier lives.

So if you’re a perfectionist, take heart. You’re not alone. And there’s hope for us yet.

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

It’s okay to ask for help

Asking for help is often seen as a sign of weakness, but it takes a lot of strength to admit that you need assistance. We all need help from time to time, whether we’re struggling with a personal issue or trying to figure out how to use a new piece of technology. Asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it’s often the smartest thing you can do.

When it comes to asking for help in the classroom, teachers shouldn’t hesitate to reach out to their colleagues. A fresh set of eyes can make all the difference when it comes to spotting problems with a lesson plan or finding new ways to engage students.

And when it comes to assessment, colleagues can provide valuable insights that can help improve the quality of your work. So don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. It’s okay to admit that you’re not perfect — we all are.

Take time for yourself

As teachers, we often put the needs of our students above our own. We teach because we want to make a difference in the lives of others, and that means sometimes sacrificing our own time and energy.

However, it’s important to remember that we can’t pour from an empty cup. To be the best teachers we can be, we must take care of ourselves first. That means taking time for rest, relaxation, and self-care. It might mean saying no to after-school activities or planning days off with family.

Seneca said this about guarding your time:

“No person would give up even an inch of their estate, and the slightest dispute with a neighbor can mean hell to pay; yet we easily let others encroach on our lives — worse, we often pave the way for those who will take it over. No person hands out their money to passers-by, but to how many do each of us hand out our lives! We’re tight-fisted with property and money, yet think too little of wasting time, the one thing about which we should all be the toughest misers.”

The only person who will prioritize your time is you. Don’t let someone else make their time more important than yours.

Whatever form it takes, self-care is essential to being a successful teacher.

So next time you feel run down, remember to take a little time for yourself. Your students will thank you for it!

Don’t compare yourself to others

If you’re like most people, you probably compare yourself to others regularly. Whether you’re comparing your work to a colleague’s or your teaching methods to a master teacher’s, it’s easy to feel like you’re falling short.

There is always someone further along in their career than you, but don’t worry — you’re not supposed to compare yourself to them! That’s because, as anyone with imposter syndrome will tell you, everyone feels like a fraud sometimes.

The only way to become a better teacher is to gain experience and keep learning. So instead of comparing yourself to others, focus on your journey and trust that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Photo by Luwadlin Bosman on Unsplash

Build relationships with your colleagues and students

There’s no denying that relationships are essential. Whether you’re trying to build relationships with your colleagues or students, it’s essential to put in the effort to create connections. After all, relationships are the foundation of any successful teaching experience. Establishing relationships with your students creates a supportive learning environment where everyone can thrive.

Don’t be the teacher who doesn’t smile until Christmas. Get to know your students. Laugh with them (not at them!), talk with them, and learn what they love about the world. It may help you connect with that student who never speaks to anyone.

And by developing relationships with your colleagues, you create a collaborative team that can work together to improve student outcomes. So if you’re looking to build relationships, remember that creating strong bonds takes time and effort. But the effort is well worth it when you see the positive impact that relationships can have on teaching and learning.

Be yourself

An old saying goes, “When in doubt, be yourself.” And while that may not be the most sage advice for every situation, it’s definitely something to keep in mind regarding your career.

After all, being authentic and genuine to yourself is one of the best ways to be successful.

Consider the classroom. As a teacher, you have the unique opportunity to connect with your students personally and help them learn in a relevant way. But to do that, you need to be genuine.

Your students will be able to sense if you’re being fake or if you’re going through the motions. Trust me; they have a BS detector that can spot a fake teacher from a hundred miles away. They’ll know if you’re doing something that is not authentic to who you are.

Don’t be that teacher who tries to do things in class so you can look cool to your students. (As a matter of fact, don’t use the word cool. I’m pretty sure it’s not cool anymore…)

But if you’re authentic, they’ll be more likely to engage with the material and learn from you.

Of course, there are times when it’s essential to put on a professional persona. But in general, it’s best to just be yourself. It might not always be easy, but it’s always worth it.

So there you have it: some advice on not being a perfect teacher and trying to impress everyone from a (spoiler alert) far-from-perfect teacher. Remember, it’s okay to ask for help, take time for yourself, don’t compare yourself to others, build relationships with your colleagues and students, and most importantly — be yourself!

As always, thanks for reading. This blog is a reader-supported publication. The best way to support it is to shop for some of my favorite stuff (I get a cut) or hire me to speak or consult with your organization.

The HyperRubric: A Rubric for the Digital Age

I’ve long been a fan of Hyperdocs; a lesson-building format that focused on providing students with the resources they need to work at their own pace throughout a lesson or unit.

Hyperdocs also gives teachers the chance to support students in a lesson exactly when they need it most. The format works well in either virtual or blended learning environments, giving students control over the pace of the lesson.

With a bit of a different twist, there’s now the HyperRubric.

Think of it as a traditional rubric super-powered with examples and supports that will give students the resources they need to complete a task.

HyperRubrics can give help students answer the “why” behind what they are doing in a lesson rather than just the what. We’ve all had great lessons that students loved, but at the end of the lesson, students can’t really express what they were supposed to be learning during the lesson, only remembering the cool stuff they did.

Image from Cult of Pedagogy

Using HyperRubrics can provide a focus for students and help teachers think critically about what support students will need to achieve outcomes.

Wednesday Wisdom: Don’t Let Your Emotions Overwhelm Your Choices

I read a passage from Robert Greene’s Daily Laws during my morning quiet time today. This morning’s entry dealt with a topic every educator – and person – deals with daily; handling our emotions.

Too often, we make choices based on our emotions. This is true for educators since we see the sides of society others often ignore. Hunger, abuse, indescribable home environments, and abandonment are just a few things we see as our students walk into the building.

We want to do what’s best for our kids because we love them. Too often, we become invested in their success and allow our emotions to take charge.

Of course, even if we can learn to master our emotions (something extremely difficult to do because we’re human), we can’t ever control the emotions of those around us.

The people you work with may not master their emotions. Administrators, other teachers, vital staff members, parents, and students have their own emotions to deal with, and many won’t make decisions detached from emotions. You, on the other hand, will do your best to control your emotions.

It’s not about having no emotions. That, frankly, is impossible. And utterly, completely boring. The goal is to control your emotions and choose not to let them be involved in decision-making. But perhaps even more important to this process is not getting sucked into the emotional whirlpool created by others.

Understand Wizard’s Third Rule: Passion Rules Reason. Most people we meet and associate with allow their emotions to guide every decision.

But not you. You remember Wizard’s Sixth Rule: The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason.

Stay focused, stay reasoned.

As always, thanks for reading. This newsletter is a reader-supported publication. The best way to support it is to shop for some of my favorite stuff (I get a cut) or hire me to speak or consult with your organization.

Respecting Solitude and How Students Work

I finished Susan Cain’s Quiet this week and came away with several notes. Of course, my interest in this book on all things introverts was personal. I’m the introvert’s introvert. Yes, I stand in front of students and teachers every day. And I have given more in-person talks than I can remember, but I pay a price for that work.

I’m more comfortable at home. I curl up with a good book or build something in Minecraft. Both are more comfortable for me than being in front of people. I’m more expressive in my writing than I am while talking. I have time to collect my thoughts, and even now, I still worry about sounding like an idiot when I’m in front of people.

I’m much better in public now than when I was a kid, but I still have to put on my super-suit to make it through the day. And I often come home and collapse from the weight of being around people.

Reacting to the World

Turns out, there’s a reason why introverts like me respond to the world in the way we do. Cain presents research on people who have low- and high-reactive nervous systems. At first glance, you’d think that introverts are low-reactive and extroverts are high-reactive.

My friend, it’s the opposite. Introverts have high-reactive nervous systems. We have visceral reactions to the smallest events. Extroverts are extroverts because they’re looking for external stimulation. They need the excitement.

Introverts? We have plenty of excitement walking out the door in the morning, thank you very much. We don’t need anything else.

Now, put yourself in the place of one of your introverted students. How often do we do things in our schools that will throw this student’s nervous system into chaos?

I often think about why we do so many things in education the same way for every student. Yes, we provide interventions when students aren’t meeting achievement standards. But why do we make them sit in overfilled classrooms when we know some of them would rather be alone or in a small group?

We’re stifling great students by putting them in situations that wreck their world. And sometimes, we keep them from learning all they can.

Photo by Robynne Hu on Unsplash

Group Work isn’t Always the Right Choice

Teachers ask students to collaborate all the time. We’re trained that collaboration makes for great student experiences. And that “we’re better together than we are apart.” I’m the first to admit that I follow that motto when working with students and teachers. Many times we’re right to put folks in groups.

But sometimes we’re not.

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Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, Inc., created the first Apple computer alone. He worked early mornings and late evenings around his job at HP. No workgroup, team, or other souls to talk with about his ideas. But he created the computer that began a revolution.

Musicians, especially professional musicians, know what makes or breaks their careers. It’s not the time they spend practicing with their ensemble. It’s how much time they spend in solitary practice. Great musicians practice around 4 hours a day alone, then practice more with their group.

Students sometimes don’t want to work in groups because they don’t want to do the work. Sometimes, it’s because they know they work well alone.

Flexible Collaboration

What if we allowed students to collaborate as they see the need? How could we design our classrooms and schools to facilitate this option?

We can use tools like instant messaging or chat tools. These tools create spaces where students can share ideas as needed. Jason Fried from 37Signals tells his employees to practice “passive collaboration.” Don’t meet unless you have to do so.

As a matter of fact, Jason tells people to cancel meetings. If you attend the same meetings I do as an educator; you know this is a good idea.

Microsoft has offices that offer sliding doors and removable walls. When appropriate, people can chat with their peers on a project. But then, they have the control to retreat into solitude and work.

closeup photo of body of water in timelapse photo
Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash

Getting Into a Flow

Cain speaks about the “flow state” that people enter when they can concentrate and work. I experience this myself often when I’m working. It isn’t easy to get there without planning to do so, but when I can, oh my.

For me, I put on my headphones and crank up a playlist of techno, lo-fi, or some other repetitive music. It’s always in the background but never in the front of my mind. Sometimes I’m like Tim Ferris, and I’ll repeat a movie or TV episode repeatedly.

When do we allow students to get into a flow state? Do we ever? Introverts love to get into this flow state of uninterrupted work. They hate distractions.

Yet, we break it up every 50-60 minutes of every school day. Imagine how frustrating this is for some of your students.

Finding Your Restorative Niche

Your restorative niche is the place you go to rebuild your strength. This holds true for introverts and extroverts alike; their restorative niches look different. It doesn’t have to be a physical place; it can be a mental state of being.

Regardless of what it looks like, our students have restorative niches they need to visit. Many times per day. Likely, you have a restorative niche yourself that you need to visit.

What Now?

I don’t have answers for what I’ve talked about, but I know that we need to be more aware of how we take care of our introverts. Because I’m one of them, I know how terrible my school experience was all those years ago.

Is there a place for collaboration and group work among students and teachers? Yes. Is there also a place for solitude and quiet focus? Yes, and yes.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter is a reader-supported publication. The best way to support it is to shop for some of my favorite gear (I get a cut) or hire me to speak or consult with your organization.

Thinking about Lesson Redesign for Deeper Learning

There’s a project that I’ve wanted to begin for a few years. I thought I’d have the chance during my first year as a full-time digital learning coach, but then COVID happened, and things went off the rails.

Now, my project is running. I’m working with a group of teachers in my district; the Future Shift Fellowship. The teachers represent grade levels from K-12 and several different content areas. Our focus is on redesigning lessons to create deeper learning experiences for students.

In case you weren’t aware, this process isn’t easy. But, with the right outlook and tools to help, we’re making some headway on this journey.

The Right Tool for Framing Conversations

We’re using the wonderful 4 Shifts Protocol as our guiding light during all our conversations. If you’re not familiar with this protocol, here’s an overview:

The 4 Shifts Protocol is a questioning protocol that focuses on redesigning lessons in four areas: deeper thinking & learning, authentic work, student agency & personalization, and technology infusion.

It’s a simple tool to begin using, but it opens the door to much deeper conversations about what we ask students to do and how those tasks align with meaningful work in settings beyond the classroom.

purple and black computer keyboard
Photo by Syed Ali on Unsplash

Before this week’s meeting, I asked the fellows to read through the 4 Shifts handbook to guide our discussions. From the group, here are some of the thoughts they shared and their takeaways from the book:

The 4 Shifts Takeaways

My fellows know that one of my rallying cries about any change we undertake in our classrooms is to “embrace the suck.” It’s a military term used by trainers to get their trainees to understand that you must lean into being uncomfortable and push through difficulties. I use it to encourage teachers and students to keep going despite whatever difficulty they face with technology usage, rethinking lessons, or anything that “sucks” about change in education.

The fellows agreed that this book and protocol give them some support and encouragement to embrace the suck. And to know that things won’t always suck.

Next, they realized that lesson redesign will look different for different people because of the protocol’s flexibility. The 4 Shifts protocol respects teachers as professionals and masters of their craft. There is no dictation to use certain tools or methods in any of the shifts, merely yes/no/maybe questions to start conversations about how to change. It’s up to each teacher to determine how to best change each no to a yes.

people sitting down near table with assorted laptop computers
Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

One fellow brought up how, when used properly, infusing technology into lessons can give students greater control over their learning. Good technology integration should provide students with greater agency and provide them with opportunities to present their work to an authentic audience and setting. Thinking about lesson redesign with deeper learning in mind makes this possible.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

We talked about our overachiever desire to do something spectacular with our students. If we’re going to redesign a lesson, we thought, we need to do something that’s never been done before and end the lesson or unit with some impressive technology project to show off to as many people as possible.

Of course, that’s not the point of this process. And the redesign doesn’t have to be difficult to implement or require huge changes to lead to deeper learning. Even small tweaks to your existing lessons can open new doors for students. Changing one small part of your lesson can give students a greater opportunity to think more deeply or, if appropriate, lead them down the path of becoming creators of content rather than consumers.

Ultimately, our goal in lesson redesign is moving students from inert learning to active learning, getting away from simple test prep to acquiring knowledge that sets them up for success in the world beyond our school walls.

What Happens Next

Our journey is just beginning with this fellowship. We’re starting small to spread this work across our school district. We will learn much along the way, and I’ll be sharing our work with all of you as we go. It’s an adventure for us and, we hope, for our students, too.

Change does not happen quickly, especially in education. However, our students are worth whatever changes we can make to help them be successful and live the life of their dreams, whatever that may be. The struggle is worth it because our kids are worth it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. If you’ve enjoyed the insights and stories, consider showing your support by subscribing to my weekly newsletter. It’s a great way to stay updated and dive deeper into my content. Alternatively, if you love audiobooks or want to try them, click here to start your free trial with Audible. Your support in any form means the world to me and helps keep this blog thriving. Looking forward to connecting with you more!

Reversing Learning Loss, Rethinking Exit Tickets, and Respecting Introverts

Happy Monday to you all. I’m back after a nice break and ready to get things going this week. I’ve got some cool things to share with you today.

What I’m Reading:

Reversing Learning Loss

There’s a new working paper out of India that discusses the “learning loss” experienced by 19,000 students in Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. I’m not the biggest fan of the term “learning loss” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that’s not a battle I can fight. I’m just diving into this report, but the results from the interventions provided by a government-run program show a significant reduction in the deficits.

Rethinking Exit Tickets

I’m more invested in student-centered, personalized learning and taking the focus of our classrooms from the teacher being the “ultimate source of knowledge,” so when I saw an article from Eric Sheninger on rethinking exit tickets, I jumped right in. Eric presents an example of an exit ticket that isn’t just a “did you learn” activity. It’s a short exercise, to be sure, but it provides a student a chance to reflect on their learning and think about their level of understanding of the topic.

I haven’t read Eric’s most recent book yet, but I’ve enjoyed his Learning Transformed and Digital Leadership immensely.

Respecting Introverts

I am, without a doubt, the introvert’s introvert. I thrive in my alone time. Susan Cain’s “Quiet” has been on my TBR list for some time, and I finally started reading it during my break. It’s brilliant.

I’m about a third of the way through it. My first big takeaway is society’s focus on being an extrovert. Extroverted behavior is encouraged in our schools, companies, and governments. Nobody wants to be an introvert. Until you dig a little deeper…

For instance, Cain points out that the ranks of CEOs are filled with introverts. She quotes the imminent business expert Peter Drucker who said when speaking of companies he consulted with, “the most effective leaders had little or no charisma and little use for the term or what it signifies.”

Another interesting point from the book: 128 companies studied showed that CEOs considered extroverts had bigger salaries than their introverted counterparts but not better corporate performance.

I wonder what damage we do to introverts in our schools by not letting them be who they are and working in ways best for them.

Quote of the Day:

The one who has no wounds has never fought a battle.

– Erwin MacManus, The Way of The Warrior

naked man statue
Photo by Simone Pellegrini on Unsplash

What I’m Watching:

As a reward for completing some of my coursework, I binged three episodes of Andor on Disney+. Oh my goodness, it’s so good. I highly recommend it to anyone but especially to my fellow Star Wars fans.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter is a reader-supported publication. The best way to support it is to shop for some of my favorite gear (I get a cut) or hire me to speak or consult with your organization.

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Surprise, Surprise: Teachers Make Less Money Than Their Peers

I’m just going to talk about this for a minute and then move on because I’m pretty sure everyone who cares is aware of this issue by now.

I’m also sure that everyone who doesn’t care about it and/or doesn’t believe it isn’t going to listen to anything I say, regardless of the data backing up my statements.

According to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, teachers make about 76.5 cents on the dollar compared to their peers in other comparable professions.

On average, teachers make about 23.5% less than their peers. Unless you’re a teacher in Colorado. Then the gap increases to 35.9%.

Also disturbing, teachers’ inflation-adjusted weekly wages since 1996 have been flat. Flat.

Considering what teachers have been through the past 2.5 years, you’d think something would have changed.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t. I wonder if it ever will.

Thanks for reading. Get access to exclusive content and expert insights on technology, teaching, and leadership by subscribing to my newsletter. Stay up-to-date on the latest trends and join our community of professionals and educators worldwide.

References:

Teacher pay penalty reaches record high. What’s at stake? (2022, August 22). EdSurge. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2022-08-22-teacher-pay-penalty-reaches-record-high-what-s-at-stake

The teacher pay penalty has hit a new high: Trends in teacher wages and compensation through 2021. (n.d.). Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://www.epi.org/publication/teacher-pay-penalty-2022/

Teachers: You Don’t Have to Be Great Every Day

“The most important thing a young ball player can learn is that he can’t be good every day”

– a baseball scout to Lou Gehrig

If you’re familiar with the great Lou Gehrig’s story, you probably also know that he held the record for over fifty years for consecutive baseball games. 2,130 games, to be exact. An incredible accomplishment, especially when you know that he suffered many broken bones (pretty much every bone in both hands), injuries, and sickness over his career.

But he never stopped. He was, most importantly, consistent. Early on in his career, he took to heart the words of that wise scout and decided that he didn’t have to be the greatest player every day. He just had to show up and do the work, even if he failed in the trying.

There’s a lesson there for educators…

How often do we think as educators that we must be perfect every day? How many frustrations come from lessons that didn’t work right, technology that didn’t work at all, or the one student who never shows up finally showing up on the day you wished he hadn’t?

Don’t lie. You know exactly which kid I’m talking about.

Of course, we want to do our best. We’ve been given a sacred trust to educate the next generation. We work hard and take our time to ensure our students have great learning experiences. We look for new ways to engage our students, new ways to get their brains thinking and making new connections.

We search for resources that will help the struggling student overcome an obstacle, and at the same time, we’re challenging the student who seems to excel at every task to do something new and creative.

We diligently work to expand opportunities for students who don’t have what they need to be successful. We meet with parents and community members to support programs that reach at-risk students, talk with local businesses, and get their support for our after-school activities and teams.

We spend sleepless nights searching for the answers to prepare our students for a world that we can’t predict. We drive ourselves mad, stay tired, and put up with less and less support from our government officials and budgets that just don’t seem to get the job done.

And we somehow forget that we’re not going to be the best every day. We want to be. We want to scream when we aren’t. We’d rather die than fail our students or for something to go wrong that ruins our plans.

However, our students need to see that we’re not perfect, and that’s perfectly fine. They need to know that we make mistakes, but we learn from them when we do. They need to understand that sometimes things happen beyond our control, but we always try our best anyway.

“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”

– Jean-Luc Picard

We’re not superhuman. We’re not perfect. We will fail. We will fall. But so has everyone else who has ever set foot on this planet of ours. We won’t be good every day. But we don’t have to be, because our students won’t be good every day.

Sometimes, we just have to remind ourselves that it’s okay if we’re not good every day. Because our students need us to be human. They need to know that even the best of us make mistakes and that even the most prepared can have a bad day.

Because what they really need to learn is that it’s not about being good every day. It’s about being good enough and trying again tomorrow.

Our students need us to be real so they can be too.

We have good days and bad days. What’s important is that we learn from our mistakes, strive to be better tomorrow than we were today, and never give up on our students.

And when they see us struggle and move through problems, they see that they can do the same. And that lesson is more important than just about any other we could give them.

“The most important thing a young ball player can learn is that he can’t be good every day.” The same is true for educators. We must continue to learn and grow to be the best we can be for our students. They deserve nothing less.

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Why Do We Spend So Much Time on Inert Learning in Our Classrooms?

How much time do we spend on inert learning daily in our classrooms?

I’ve been asking that myself a lot lately as we’ve had more and more discussions in my schools and across the country about deeper learning and what our students are learning in schools. I’m watchful of any inert learning happening in classrooms I visit and in my own practice as I work with teachers.

Before we can determine exactly how much time we spend on inert learning, we must define inert learning.

With inert learning, the student learns and remembers facts or procedures without understanding or being able to use them. So, they can regurgitate the information back to you on a test or quiz, but after the fact, they’ve forgotten it and moved on. We can also think about inert learning as surface-level learning.

There are two types of inert learning- declarative and procedural.

Declarative inert learning is when students learn and remember facts without understanding them. For example, rote memorization of vocabulary words without being able to use them in context wouldn’t be considered deeper learning.

Procedural inert learning is when students learn procedures without understanding why or when to use them. A great example of this is students who can solve a math problem one way, but if you ask them to explain how they did it or why that particular method works, they can’t because they don’t understand the concept, they just know the steps to get the answer.

So, how much time are we spending on inert learning in our classrooms?

The answer may depend on what level you teach. To support younger learners, elementary teachers will spend more time on inert learning to empower their students with the knowledge to make deeper connections. In later grades, teachers can more easily move students to deeper learning opportunities, applying that surface-level knowledge to more practical applications.

This is an important shift. Certainly, before any deeper learning can occur, the facts and information from any surface-level learning must be in place. John Hattie speaks about the transition from surface-level learning to deeper learning in this video and how vital both are to students.

As educators, we can consciously make decisions about the content we’re teaching and the instructional methods we use to ensure that our students engage in deeper learning.

Here are some things to consider as you reflect on your own practice:

  • Do my students have opportunities to construct meaning or create something new?
  • Do my students have opportunities to apply their knowledge in authentic ways?
  • Do my students have opportunities to think deeply about their learning content?

If you can answer yes to these questions, then you’re likely doing more than just teaching inert knowledge. Keep up the good work!

Too often, students are taught inert knowledge- facts and procedures without understanding or being able to use them. This type of learning results in surface-level understanding at best and leads students to forget what they learn shortly after the fact.

On the other hand, deeper learning is when students learn and remember facts with understanding. They can use the information they learned in various contexts and see how it connects to other ideas. Deeper learning also allows for critical thinking and creativity.

It’s important for educators to make a conscious effort to move away from teaching inert knowledge and toward deeper learning. We can do this by providing opportunities for our students to construct meaning, apply their knowledge in authentic ways, and think deeply about their learning content. If we do this, we’ll be setting our students up for success in college and beyond.

Can you remember a time in your own educational past when you learned something new, and then, as soon as you took the test, you forgot what it was you learned?

How often does that happen in your classroom with your students?

I don’t want to ask myself that question because I’m afraid of what the answer might be. You might feel the same way. I know how many times it happened to me during my own time walking through the hallowed halls of public K-12 education.

Those facts you forgot, the ones that had no practical application to anything you were doing at the time? That’s inert learning.

Inert knowledge is “learning that was superficially acquired, never really understood, and promptly forgotten” (McTighe & Silver, Harvey F., 2020). Standardized tests are built on inert knowledge. As a matter of fact, most forms of assessment I can think of are specifically designed to measure inert knowledge.

The problem with inert knowledge is that it’s, well, inert. It doesn’t do anything. It can’t be applied to solve problems or create new understanding. It’s just there, taking up space in our heads until we forget it and move on.

On the other hand, deeper learning is learning that sticks with you, that you can apply in different contexts, and that helps you build new understanding.

It’s the kind of learning that allows you to take what you know and use it to solve problems, think creatively, and communicate effectively. Deeper learning is active; inert learning is passive.

There are a few reasons why inert knowledge assessments still exist. For one, they’re easy to grade and don’t require as much engagement from the student as deeper learning assessments. Additionally, inert knowledge is often seen as a precursor to deeper learning, so educators may use these assessments to identify students who need more support to move on to deeper levels of understanding. Finally, there’s a tendency for people (educators and policymakers included) to value things that can be easily measured, like grades or test scores. And because inert knowledge can be assessed fairly easily and objectively, it has become a staple in our educational system.

Now, let’s go back to the question I opened: How much time do we spend on inert learning daily in our classrooms?

Is there a better use of our time?

If you’re looking for more ways to move away from inert learning and toward deeper learning in your classroom, be sure to sign up for my free newsletter. I’ll update you weekly on the latest deeper learning strategies supported by technology integration. I’ll also include links to helpful resources and provide tips for making the most of your teaching time. Sign up now and start moving your classroom in the right direction!

References:

McTighe, J., & Silver, Harvey F. (2020). Teaching for deeper learning: Tools to engage students in meaning making (Kindle). ASCD. 

Colorado Teacher Reaches New Heights

Colorado chemistry teacher Eddie Taylor has something new to add to his resume: He’s reached the peak of Mt. Everest.

And he did it with the first team of Black climbers

While other Black climbers have previously climbed Mount Everest, this was the first summit by a team of Black climbers. The other Full Circle team members who summited were Thomas Moore, also of Colorado; and Manoah Ainuu, Rosemary Saal, Demond Mullins, James “KG” Kagami, and Evan Green. Phil Henderson, who lives in Cortez, Colorado, led the Full Circle team but did not climb. 

“If you’re a black person or a Latino person and you Google ‘climbing,’ you’re going to still see lots of people who don’t look like you,” Taylor said. “That, I think, makes those sports … seem a little bit more unapproachable.”

https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/16/23076383/colorado-teacher-eddie-taylor-summits-mt-everest