by edtosavetheworld | Sep 14, 2015 | Stage 3: Conceptual Understanding
I’m a fan of the International Baccalaureate Program. I love the commitment to building a better world through education. I love the inquiry process of learning and the dedication to improving the quality of student thinking. Most of all, I love that the...
by edtosavetheworld | Sep 8, 2015 | Stage 3: Conceptual Understanding, Stage 4: Disciplinary Thinking
Everything I read these days points to the need for an interdisciplinary approach to learning. It’s touted to boost engagement and bring coherence to the otherwise jolty school experience most kids endure each day. My favorite rationale for interdisciplinary...
by edtosavetheworld | Aug 28, 2015 | Stage 3: Conceptual Understanding
A few years ago, my colleague Dave made these amazing stickers to help the concept-based model “stick” in teachers’ brains. They were oh-so-simple, but oh-so-effective. We had read chapters and chapters on concept-based curriculum and instruction...
by edtosavetheworld | Aug 24, 2015 | Stage 3: Conceptual Understanding
This week we continue talking about concept-based teaching and learning. As a history teacher, I’ve found that it’s really easy to plan a lesson or unit that I think leads to conceptual understanding only later to reflect and realize that we spent most of...
by edtosavetheworld | Aug 18, 2015 | Stage 3: Conceptual Understanding
Here’s what I used to think about vertical alignment (in a nutshell): You look at the overarching ideas and understandings plus the discrete facts and skills of each course and make sure there are no significant gaps or overlap, although you do want some things...
