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I often begin class with different ways for students to share their thoughts, stories and adventures as well as for me to share mine. My hope is that it opens their minds to other ways to have fun without me just throwing ideas at them.

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we will be supporting our final unit project and building pop-rockets and setting them off outside. Designing, building and testing parachutes for the final project rockets. Designing and testing fins for the final rockets

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Create timed breaks--7th inning stretch... I also use walkabouts during class.  For example, students will fill out an organizer. Then, they will rise, walkabout, and share their findings with peers...

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Create timed breaks--7th inning stretch... I also use walkabouts during class.  For example, students will fill out an organizer. Then, they will rise, walkabout, and share their findings with peers...

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Allow students to build some Lego or use linking cubes and complete the assignments

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Allow students options to make up work, read, get up and socialize quietly/think pair share, offer puzzles and brain teasers 

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Allow students options to make up work, read, get up and socialize quietly/think pair share, offer puzzles and brain teasers 

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Fun Partner activities that highlight communication including passing on information correctly and drawing what they hear.

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Fun Partner activities that highlight communication including passing on information correctly and drawing what they hear.

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Created math scavenger hunt w/capture sheet.  Students had to write fractions based on how many cars are a certain color, how many cars are out-of-state, how many suv's there are as compared to how many are not suv's, etc.

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In Reading we will also journal and do a read aloud outdoors (weather permitting)

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In Reading we will also journal and do a read aloud outdoors (weather permitting)

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Music! Singing & playing instruments as a physical alternative to sitting & testing.

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Music! Singing & playing instruments as a physical alternative to sitting & testing.

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Watching the Rubiks cube challenge

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Concert at the end of the month! Bringing in outside resources to model professional musicianship.

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Concert at the end of the month! Bringing in outside resources to model professional musicianship.

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Hands on activities/puzzles/educational (content)  board games

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Hands on activities/puzzles/educational (content)  board games

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Keep encouraging students to finish the school year strong

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Keep encouraging students to finish the school year strong

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In the beginning of the class I tell students that they will complete some reviewing math work, one page length, then kahoot or blooket game, then they will enjoy some candy at end. 

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In the beginning of the class I tell students that they will complete some reviewing math work, one page length, then kahoot or blooket game, then they will enjoy some candy at end. 

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Have students do a gallery walk and look at other student's work.

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Have students do a gallery walk and look at other student's work.

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In Reading, we will be doing a variety of 'bee's': Spelling Bee, Pronunciation Bee, Definition Bee

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In Reading, we will be doing a variety of 'bee's': Spelling Bee, Pronunciation Bee, Definition Bee

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Give multiple options: including videos, interactive activities, and group assignments. They get the choice of what we do each day.

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Provide students with new activities and sports that they might not be familiar with. This will keep them engaged and excited to try something new. We have countdowns for certain end of the year activities, mile of champion, softball tournament, etc. to give them something to look forward to until the end of the year.

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Engaging students with their peers by trying out a small group through a game model

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Allow students to engage in activities that require them to move to improve their physical fitness

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Real world application of our division skills!

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From Seatwork to Feetwork ideas...Rotations, Kahoots, Art Ideas.  College and Career Readiness Activities.

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From Seatwork to Feetwork ideas...Rotations, Kahoots, Art Ideas.  College and Career Readiness Activities.

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Research a college and make the logo for that college to decorate our hallways.

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Do more activities or simulations in class. 

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Do more activities or simulations in class. 

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Find activities that include drawing a picture or coloring as part of finding the correct answers. 

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Find activities that include drawing a picture or coloring as part of finding the correct answers. 

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Riddles, puzzles, outdoors to measure ratios of types of cars

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Allowing frequent breaks for movement and stretching

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Allowing frequent breaks for movement and stretching

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In PE we are trying to keep students engaged by trying new sports and activities while focusing on the good weather (hopefully). We are also finishing the year with a school-wide wiffle ball tournament which the students usually get really into. 

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In PE we are trying to keep students engaged by trying new sports and activities while focusing on the good weather (hopefully). We are also finishing the year with a school-wide wiffle ball tournament which the students usually get really into. 

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Get them up to move as much as possible!

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Get them up to move as much as possible!

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Blookets and kahoots - to excite the kids!

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Know your students to ensure engagement and scaffold to allow students to access new information.

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Earning my National Board Certification was a professional turning point for me, as it was for many teachers I know. It was early in my career when I submitted my Blue Box (with VHS tapes!), but as soon as I connected with the community of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) here in Washington state, hallways filled with doors of opportunity opened to me.

As I've navigated through these new doors, my role has shifted from teacher of teenagers to teacher of fellow teachers and administrators. Stepping into this uncharted territory, I found that the skill set I brought as an accomplished classroom teacher felt at odds with this new world leading adult learning.

It shouldn't have, though. Now five years into leading the learning of my peers, it is clear that the Architecture of Accomplished Teaching transfers in many ways, helping to guide my design of effective adult learning. While the parallels between pedagogy and andragogy do have limits, I believe that some of those dreadful PD experiences we've all endured ( and about which Patrick Ledesma wrote) could have been dramatically improved by a little bit of that Architecture.

At the base of the familiar helix are the students-and for the Architecture of Accomplished Teaching of Teachers, the questions are the same: Who are they? Where are they now in their learning? What do they need and in what order do they need it? Where should I begin? The foundation of good instruction is knowing the learner and basing decisions on formative assessments-two elements of good instruction that sometimes don't appear to be considered in teacher PD design.

I understand why this is missing, though: A workshop facilitator tends to bring in a predetermined slide deck on a pre-established topic. It seems that seldom is meaningful formative assessment, or even the opportunity for getting to know the actual needs of the learners, built into teacher PD experiences. But it can be done: sometimes as simply as asking teachers what they need and then being a nimble enough teacher to monitor and adjust in the moment for the needs of the learners.

For example, some of my most successful PD sessions have started with me saying, "This morning you came to learn about X: Take a moment to jot down what you most hope to get out of our time together." I then collect and review the responses while participants engage in a brief reading or video clip to build common schema, and adapt my plans to better address the priorities identified by simply asking what people need. We expect this same kind of enacting-on-the-spot of ourselves in our classrooms, and we can certainly model it in our teacher-leadership.

Moving up the helix, accomplished teachers design instruction aimed at attaining goals. Just like in my classroom, where I must have in mind what I want my students to do with the information I give them, professional gatherings of teachers ought to have clear goals for outcomes. When we walk out with the familiar "this could've been an email" feeling, our time has been wasted. When we walk out with a to-do list, passive recipients of new boxes to check, that's not ideal either. The best situation is when we acquire new knowledge that we can apply to better serve our kids. It is such a great feeling to leave a meeting or workshop invigorated instead of frustrated. And if, on top of that, we can learn about instruction by watching how a skilled teacher facilitates our learning in a training or meeting... then we're in PD heaven. Too often, it feels like the opposite.

It was actually that next stage of the helix, reflection, that helped me make the connection between teaching and leading. My first time leading PD for my peers, I received a canned PowerPoint and followed instructions to present its contents. My colleagues, many of whom I'd worked alongside for a decade, were snapping pictures of each other falling asleep and posting them on Facebook. At least they tagged me, so it was all in good fun.

As that afternoon wrapped, my teacher-brain was exploding: never would I have tolerated such awful instruction from myself in front of my high schoolers, so why did I permit myself to "teach" that way in front of my peers? I made a resolution to never again treat teacher PD like something to "get through." Just like in my own classroom, I wanted my learners to walk out wanting more. In the five years since that horrible first workshop, I've worked hard to ensure that every learning experience I craft for teachers would pass muster in my own classroom of kids.

The Architecture of Accomplished Teaching, when applied effectively, results not only in better learning, but also engagement. The same can absolutely be true when working with adult learners. In the teacher-leader roles we often find ourselves in as NBCTs, it is worth remembering those skills that made us accomplished teachers in the first place...and to bring those skills to the fore when we stand in front of our peers.

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The Architecture of Accomplished Teaching...of Teachers - NBPTS

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Earning my National Board Certification was a professional turning point for me, as it was for many teachers I know. It was early in my career when I submitted my Blue Box (with VHS tapes!), but as soon as I connected with the community of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) here in Washington state, hallways filled with doors of opportunity opened to me.

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Honors geometry students will be learning final unit on circles,while Math 8 students will be learning pythagorean theorem.  I will prepare more task cards, gamified assignments, mazes and real world applications for students to demonstrate mastery of the topics while remaining engaged.

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Choice - students are more likely to buy in if they have some sort of choice or personal stake in the learning. This quarter, we decided that students would read their choice of book and complete common assignments based on them, and we're seeing awesome buy-in!

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Share what strategy you are going to use to maintain high levels of student engagements.

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Share what strategy you are going to use to maintain high levels of student engagements.