With so much information that we want our students to learn, it seems like our biggest focus should be on effectively giving the information to the students. Although this is important, most of the information will be forgotten quickly if we do not have the students recall the information regularly. Retrieval practice boosts learning by focusing on pulling information out …
Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop at Westfield State University all about teaching writing in the age of Artificial Intelligence. In addition to myself and Mr. Kvarnstrom, the room was filled with English Language Arts teachers from all over Western Mass, everything from second and third-grade elementary teachers to first-year composition professors, all of us …
In “Powerful Teaching”, Dr. Pooja Agarwal and Patrice Bain share their research-based findings about the science of learning. After several years of teaching and research, they provide a list of powerful tools for teachers such as retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition. These practical tools allow teachers to become powerful teachers which allows them to save time and teach …
Our school’s mission statement: The Hampden Charter School of Science is a top-ranking tuition-free college preparatory school founded in 2009. The mission of the HCSS is to provide a college preparatory-focused education to the youth of every race and ethnic group in Western Massachusetts in a safe, academically challenging, and caring educational environment. Our core values are respect, responsibility, resilience, …
What is Project Based Learning? Project Based Learning: Explained. “Project Based Learning is a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks.” (Markham, Larmer, and Ravitz (2003)) At HCSS, Project Based Learning is an approach we take to instruction that engages …
Becoming a Massachusetts teacher takes more than caring about children, graduating from college, or knowing your subject matter. To become a certified teacher in Massachusetts you must pass the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL). The MTEL are a series of exams which include communication and literacy skills, as well as tests of subject matter knowledge. All paths to teacher …
There is no denying that one of the major issues facing students today is STRESS! Students are experiencing stress at levels never seen before in history. One in every 10 preschoolers has had suicidal thoughts (Whalen, Dixon-Gordon, Belden, Barch, & Luby, 2015). Doctors are reporting children in early elementary school suffering from migraine headaches and ulcers. They see a clear …
College is expensive. Luckily there are programs that can help to mitigate the cost of an education, and I am here to talk specifically about teacher loan forgiveness. Federal Student Aid created a program that applies to teachers who meet certain eligibility criteria, forgiving up to $17,500 of student loans. Read on to learn about eligibility requirements, and how to …
Some people know from the start that they want to work in education. Maybe they had a teacher whose passion for their subject was so influential, and they want to spread the love of their subject to other students in a similar way. Upon graduating from high school they head off to college and begin their higher education, taking education …
Teacher Licensure: A Program Off the Traditional Path Read More »
Data on student academic outcomes during the pandemic show that students (and other underserved populations) suffered academic deficits in subjects such as reading and arithmetic (Bond et al., 2020). During the epidemic, many instructors battled to keep their students engaged. To be clear, this problem did not arise out of nowhere during remote education; many professors struggled to engage students …