Wednesday, July 9, 2025

I'd Like to Speak to the Manager: Professional Learning Blog for 2025-26

 Management in the Active Classroom

The theme for this year's Professional Learning blog, "I'd Like to Speak to the Manager", draws from EL Education's Management in the Active Classroom, and will provide guidance to help teachers learn, practice, and master techniques and protocols that build self-discipline, responsibility, engagement, and leadership skills in their students. 



More about EL Education:

EL Education (formerly known as Expeditionary Learning) was born out of a collaboration between The Harvard Graduate School of Education and Outward Bound USA. What started as a concept has grown into a movement. Our mission, now as then, is to create classrooms where teachers can fulfill their highest aspirations and students achieve more than they think possible, becoming active contributors to building a better world.
When students enter adult life, they will be celebrated not for their performance on basic skills tests, but rather for the quality of their work and their character. That’s why EL Education builds students’ capacity for three dimensions of high achievement: Mastery of Knowledge and Skills, Character, High-Quality Student Work.

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Take a Minute: Stand Up Meetings

Stand-Up Meetings


Question: Can you have a productive staff meeting in just 15 minutes?

Having staff stand for meetings keeps them quick—15 minutes, max—and efficient.











Monday, May 12, 2025

Take a Minute: Whiteboard Relay

Whiteboard Relay


Question: What gets kids jumping out of their seats to show what they know?

The team competition is fierce in this informal assessment activity, in which students have to work together to win.













Friday, May 9, 2025

Take a Minute: Flash Philosophy

Flash Philosophy


Question: What's a simple activity to get kids thinking?

In this quick warm-up that sharpens critical thinking, students wrestle with moral and ethical questions—while also gaining communication and writing skills.











Monday, April 28, 2025

Take a Minute: Attendance Question

Attendance Question


Question: How can you use roll call to connect and check the vibe?

Transforming a mundane task like roll call into a chance to connect and share a moment with students makes the start of class more joyful.












Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Take a Minute: The Last Question

The Last Question


Question: How do you get kids to keep thinking, even when the lesson is over?

When time is up at the end of a lesson, there’s one last question teachers can ask to get students to reflect on their work—and how they’d improve next time.











Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Take a Minute: Inerview Assessments

Interview Assessments


Question: How can you better gauge student progress?

A face-to-face chat provides an alternative for students who struggle to show what they know on tests.