Improving Physical Literacy
By David Mills, NBCT – Owensboro, Kentucky As a physical education teacher, I aim to develop physically literate students. A physically literate student possesses the knowledge, competence, confidence, and motivation to participate in various physical activities to improve their overall health and wellness. Physical literacy is about more than just fundamental motor skills. It also…
Black and Latine Youth Defy Post-Pandemic Learning Loss
By: Dr. Amanda Hill-Hennie, NBCT – Philadelphia, PA Statewide Assessments Cancelled This was the headline across all news channels on March 19, 2020. I remember feeling very disappointed because the COVID-19 Pandemic was adding another layer of disruption to my life as a first-year school leader. Being charged with turning around the academic performance of…
Geography Deserves a Place in Every Classroom
By: Carol Hofer, NBCT It’s one of my “ha, ha” photos – a snapshot of a package addressed to me, who lives in Indianapolis, with a prominent stamped notice in all caps “MISSENT TO INDIA.” A stamp for this actually exists – it lead me to wonder how often it’s needed. Under Indianapolis it did…
I Believe in Water
By: Jonathon Medeiros, NBCT I believe in water. I believe in surfing the wave I am on, not the wave I wish I were on. I believe in building, learning by trying, and in observing my failures. I believe in being curious, celebrating with purpose, building empathy, in questioning. Everything about learning in my classes…
Stop, Look, and Listen: Kilo
“The most basic lesson that all art teaches us is to stop, look, and listen to life on this planet, including our own lives…” – Frederick Buechner By: Jonathon Medeiros, NBCT As the pandemic stretches into its third year, I wonder when we will stop thinking in terms of “when this is over.” I wonder…
One Step Away from Crisis
By: Michelle Morgan, NBCT As we start this new year, both educators and students are doing their very best every day to just to show up. Moving into the third year of the pandemic, teachers are twice as likely to feel stress and three times as likely to be depressed as they were in 2019. …
It’s time to think beyond the curriculum
By: Jonathon Medeiros, NBCT An essay I read recently talked about the importance of drama in learning, and its usefulness to us as teachers. The author made sure to delineate between “drama” and “theater,” explaining that drama is participant centered and theater is audience centered. The former is for the people acting, working through the…
Be an NBCT to a T (as in Traveler, not Tourist)
By: Carol Hofer, NBCT If you bet that seeing themselves on video is what most terrifies candidates pursuing National Board Certification, pay up. It’s the editing. But it’s a double whammy- trimming both the video AND the writing! First, it’s “How am I going to fill up all those pages?” then it becomes,…
When Schools and Pixar Collide: The Value of a Postmortem
By: Danny Hollweg, NBCT I picked up Ed Catmull’s 2014 book, Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. Catmull, who is the President and CEO of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation, uses stories of Pixar projects to reveal what he’s learned about managing a company, and its creative…
Tales from the Pandemic: Lessons learned as an administrator during COVID-19
Starting the School Year. As a school-based administrator entering my 3rd year in a building, I have experienced very little “normal.” I thought this year would be different. Er, rather, I hoped. Here we are on the Friday before teachers return. COVID-19 numbers are surging. Mask wars are on full-scale. Staff members are stressed already.…
