In my previous school district, I was the only teacher teaching a physics course with set, district-wide learning outcomes. These same outcomes were also taught in physics classrooms at the other high school in our district. But at our school, I was one of the 2 physics teachers. The other teacher taught the AP-level physics courses. So, in many ways, I had opportunities to incorporate strategies I believed were best for learners and that I found worked best for them without being seen as out of alignment with anyone in our building. My amazing friend and one of my teaching philosophy goddesses, Katie Novak, stated the following misconception about alignment: All teachers must deliver instruction in the exact same way. True alignment, she says, is about shared goals, rigor, and outcomes. Thank you, Katie! Katie has taught me to truly believe that learner variability is the rule, not the exception. I encourage you to take 10 minutes to listen to Katie Novak explain it in the ...
I finished the audiobook of Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us yesterday. Today, I had to go to the library to pick up a physical copy to reread some sections. This book is definitely a read - steep - reread. There is a lot to digest and act upon. The ideas Dan Pink brings out are deeply tied into the movement towards personalizing learning in our classrooms. Rather than recap the entire book, I would recommend you take the time to listen to his powerful TED talk where he lays out the fundamentals of his argument. Seriously, if you haven’t watched it or read his book, you owe it to yourself to watch it (also, read the book). The focus of the talk is from a business perspective. But, I imagine you can think of how it relates to your classroom as you watch. What Pink puts forth with a slew of evidence is that There is a gap between what science knows and what institutions do. T...