-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
When I was a high school senior, I was selected to be part of a leadership development program provided by a local civic organization. The culminating event for the program was the preparation of and execution of a group project. I loathed that project. My disdain was not for the content (we got to choose
Have you ever been in a discussion and had someone begin their response with, “With all due respect?” I’ve been in several such conversations, and far too frequently what follows “with all due respect” is typically not filled with respect. How can we ensure that student discussions don’t trend toward disrespect? In the book Teach
In the spring of 1999, I was teaching elementary music and had just completed a year-long professional development series related to assessment in the arts. Eager to use my training, I decided to engage my 4th grade composition students in the process of developing a rubric for assessing their works (even though many of my
When I was a high school student, I took the required senior class devoted to teaching research and writing. It was in that class that I was given the opportunity to select a topic of interest for a semester-long project. I was thrilled to spend an entire semester focusing on the life and work of
How would you describe the assignments you completed for school when you were a student? Would you say that they were joyful? Would you say they were fulfilling? Would you even go so far as to say they were liberating? Those are three words author Lauren Porosoff uses to describe affirming assignments in the book
I have long held that reflection is a powerful tool for personal growth and learning. In my classroom, students were often asked to complete a reflective questioning guide with the following prompts: This simple process was undertaken once per week. I read and provided encouraging comments on each one. I learned a lot about what
I have regular meetings with coaches who help me improve in personal and professional areas of my life. My coaches ask me questions about a variety of things from my personal/professional values, beliefs, and actions. They help me use my own responses to connect to my work and my relationships. It’s a powerful process that
The musical The King and I may seem a bit dated, but it is still worthy of watching. In the musical, the King hires a teacher to be the governess and educator for his children. When the governess first meets the children, she sings the song “Getting To Know You” as a way to start
When I was a student in high school, I gravitated toward classes like creative writing, band, and choir. Those classes, rich in authentic experiences, gave me a much needed break from the “sit and get” that accompanied so many other content areas at the time. Even now as an adult, I still embrace the “learn
Several years ago I worked with a school to improve teaching and learning. We established weekly departmental or area meetings of the faculty to respond to three simple, but powerful questions. The regular discussions around these three questions made a huge improvement in teaching and learning. As I reflect on that experience, I realize that
Phil Harrison Coaching 