Have you ever had someone help you assess your current state of being and/or success? Has that person helped you see opportunities and obstacles in your situation? Has that person helped you take a path of inspired action? If so, you have been in the presence of a coach. A coach helps you identify where … Continue reading What Is Coaching?
I’m now completing my 29th year serving as a professional educator. Maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s my experiences, or maybe it’s my own emotional fatigue, but it seems to me that students are arriving at our school doors carrying heavier and heavier burdens than in years past. Feelings of detachment and despondency are becoming … Continue reading Five Tenets of Community for Powerful Student Care
Expression-driven classrooms are designed to help students find and strengthen their voice. To allow for maximum growth, teachers need to be intentional in designing classroom practices and procedures that encourage every student to grow. In the book, Amplify Student Voices: Equitable Practices to Build Confidence in the Classroom, authors AnnMarie Baines, Diana Medina, and Caitlin … Continue reading Strengthening Student Voice in the Expression-Driven Classroom
Over the weekend I attended a performance of Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” at Indiana University. Prior to the performance, a musicology graduate student gave a presentation regarding the history of the opera, the major themes of the opera, and character development in the opera. The presentation included visuals, sound samples, and several laughs. It was entertaining … Continue reading Presentation in the Expression-Driven Classroom
Aside from music classes, I gravitated toward creative writing classes in high school. I enjoyed expressing my thoughts and feelings and attitudes using the written word. I particularly enjoyed poetry, because in a very short work I could release whatever was inside at the moment. I even went to a public poetry reading and read … Continue reading Poetry in the Expression-Driven Classroom
My high school didn’t have a debate team, but if they would have I would definitely have been a member. I enjoy the process of formulating informed decisions and challenging the thinking of others. Such exchanges are healthy and quite useful in learning. Debate is a practice that can be employed in an expression-driven classroom. … Continue reading Debate in the Expression-Driven Classroom
I recently completed a six month mentor-guided course in public speaking, and in every session my mentor told me, “Your story is your superpower.” With that mindset, he encouraged me to start compiling a list of personal stories that I might include in presentations I make in the future, so that the presentations will have … Continue reading The Power of Storytelling
For years we heard that teachers were the “sage on the stage” lecturing students as the primary mode of instruction. As we learned more about pedagogy, we began to hear that teachers were the “guide to the side” collaborating with students as a primary mode of instruction. In the expression-driven classroom, the teacher takes on … Continue reading Teacher as Facilitator
I may be a rarity in administrative circles, because I genuinely enjoyed cafeteria supervision when I was a high school administrator. The reason I enjoyed lunch time with our students is because it gave me opportunities to talk with students about whatever they wanted to talk about. I learned a lot, and on some occasions … Continue reading The Expression-Driven Classroom
When my high school music appreciation class entered the room they were a talkative bunch. They were energetic and wanted to share with their peers anything and everything that had happened during the prior six periods of the day. Once the bell rang and we started exploring content, there was hear-the-chirping-cricket-in-the-corner silence. I felt I … Continue reading Encouraging Student Participation in Classroom Discussion
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