Teacher Prep Tech

A friend of mine went skydiving for the first time.  She never jumped before so her first jump was tandem.  This process allowed her to enjoy the experience of jumping without the stress of having to remember everything to do.  It can take 25 times of tandem jumping before a student can jump alone. Tandem … Continue reading →

Goodbye Frank Shaffer circa 1985 you have been in our community long enough and your worksheets don’t grow dendrites. Teachers if I can give you any advice please don’t waste instructional time with run-offs from your favorite fill-in-the-blank workbook. I’m telling you now it may keep your kids quiet for a moment but it won’t … Continue reading →

The pre-service teachers I work with often here me tout  “Instruction is not a one size fits all approach”.  This notion is based on Tomilson’s theory of differentiated instruction. Tomilson contends that teachers can and should provide multiple pathways to learning by differentiating three areas of instruction: content, process and product.  The idea of presenting … Continue reading →

What if I told you in 2013, 66% of fourth grade students were reading below proficient levels.  If we disaggregate the data by race, that number increases by 81% for Latinos and 83% for black students.  The statistics are alarming less than half of all students in the United State read at a desirable level. … Continue reading →

I recently presented to a group of preservice teachers who are about to embark on a journey that will move them into teachers of record.  Excitement filled the room on the day I entered, hopeful eyes in anticipation, that I would share the knowledge to secure the job they have dreamed of.  But in a … Continue reading →

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is being touted as a panacea for the emergence of emotional and behavioral issues that are abundant in schools across the country.  This push to develop students’ awareness of themselves, their goals and emotions, as well as the feelings of others, often comes prepackaged in a curriculum box with a range of … Continue reading →

Ask the average 8 year old boy what he wants to be when he grows up and you will probably hear “make video games”.  Boys love video games because it gives them an opportunity to use their logic and reasoning skills in the context of a virtually crafted world that includes tools to build and … Continue reading →

Just like students have standards they must meet by the end of the school year, a preservice teacher must demonstrate competency in meeting teaching standards as well. Continue reading →

Yes, assessment is the “elephant in the room” and it’s not moving anytime soon. Continue reading →

Multiple representation brings forth a whole new way of assessing students. Continue reading →

To make connections to the students we teach, teachers need to be aware of their own teaching practices. Continue reading →

Why do students need multiple perspectives and opportunities to express knowledge? Continue reading →

Managing a classroom is a difficult task. Regardless of the age, grade or school environment each class will bring about management issues that a teacher simply cannot ignore.  A teacher is a manager whose primary role is to get students to complete tasks and support them in achieving goals. According to the Wall Street Journal (2015) … Continue reading →

Dr. Patricia Dickenson is Lead Faculty of Teacher Education at National University in San Jose. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Southern California in Educational Psychology. Her research focuses on the sociocultural aspects of motivation, engagement, and instruction, within mathematics, technology and standard-based teaching practices of Latino English learners.