David Ginsburg has served over 20 years as a math teacher, instructional leader, and PD provider. He leads a Philadelphia-based team of consultants that specializes in instructional coaching, leadership coaching, and common-core implementation. Follow David on Twitter, and connect with him through email and LinkedIn. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: teaching strategies.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
My Best Teachers: Students
"Hello fellow teachers," a student said to a few colleagues and me as we walked down the hall. "Since when are you a teacher?" one of my colleagues replied.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Maslow's Hierarchy Hits Home
In my first post on this blog, here's what I wrote about my early struggles as an urban teacher:
Assessment
Opinion
Formative Assessment Efficiency, Summative Assessment Proficiency
Teachers who are surprised by students' test performance often aren't assessing students' understanding in class routinely or effectively.
Teaching
Opinion
Stop Disciplining, Start Diagnosing
Doctors don't prescribe drugs or reach for a scalpel the moment a patient reports symptoms. Doctors diagnose first, and treat second.
Teaching
Opinion
Don't Prevent Students' Mistakes, Prepare for Them
It's common knowledge that people can learn as much from their mistakes as anything. And yet traditional teaching methods often deny students the chance to learn from their mistakes by preventing them from making mistakes.
Teaching
Opinion
'Tis the Season for Two Kinds of R & R
I couldn't have been more relieved when winter break arrived my first year as a teacher. Two weeks of R & R. No lessons to plan. No papers to grade. And most of all, no kids to clash with.
Teaching
Opinion
Controlling Teacher, Out of Control Classroom
Great teachers maintain control of their classrooms. They do not, however, control their students. In fact, show me a teacher who tries to control students, and I'll show you a classroom that's out of control.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Student Attitude Adjustment or Teacher Attention Adjustment?
Like a lot of teachers, I believed at first that attention-seeking students needed attitude adjustments. So when kids acted out, I not only punished them but also preached to them about changing their attitudes. But nothing changed until I concluded that the best way to modify someone else's behavior is to modify your behavior. And the behavior of mine most in need of a change related to what I gave attention to and how I gave attention to it.
Teaching
Opinion
Strategic Group Selection--By Teachers, Not Students
When I worked in business, managers--not the people they supervised--decided who would work together on a project. This made sense, since they were in the best position to objectively determine which staff members would provide the right combination of skill, teamwork, and other qualities to ensure a successful project.
School & District Management
Opinion
NCLB: No Chance for Latinos and Blacks
Note to readers: With legislators considering the future of NCLB, I feel compelled to share some thoughts on this from my experience as an urban teacher and school leader. So, here's my first post on policy rather than practice:
Mathematics
Opinion
Combining Integers Instead of Adding and Subtracting Them
"Man, I didn't do nothing," students often said to me when I spoke with them about their behavior. "My point exactly," I replied. "If you didn't do nothing, you must have done something."
Student Well-Being & Movement
Opinion
Encourage Getting Help Rather Than Giving It
I've been in many classrooms where students were sitting in groups but weren't functioning as groups. And I've seen many teachers address this by asking students who've successfully completed a task to help those who are stuck. Recently, for example, I heard a teacher praise a student for solving a difficult problem, and then say, "Make sure your whole group understands." He also said to a student in another group, "Great, now show everyone else how to do that."
Assessment
Opinion
Students at the Board: Confidence Booster or Buster?
Presenting solutions to homework or class work in front of the class can be a real confidence booster for students. But it can also be a real confidence buster for them if they come to the board thinking they're experts and their answers turn out to be wrong. And if that's not deflating enough for kids, imagine how they feel standing there as teachers try to rescue them with what amounts to private tutoring in front of their peers.
Teaching
Opinion
Homework: Only Review What You Need to Review
A lot of teachers think that if you assign homework, you must review it with students the following day. This makes sense in that it's important for students to correct and learn from their mistakes.