Archive for January 2025
Assess, Analyze, Adjust: Using Mid-Year Data to Drive Student Growth
By Dr. Natalie Fallert It is January, and many secondary teachers have just finished their semester finals or are getting ready to give them. For middle school teachers, if you didn’t offer a mid-year content exam, you are probably embarking on some universal screener1 like STAR, i-Ready, AIMSweb, etc. Hopefully, you are using the data…
Read MoreSetting the Stage for Success: Goal Setting in the Secondary Math Classroom
By Constance Hallemeier Research consistently demonstrates the power of mastery-oriented goals in fostering deep learning, motivation, and student growth. Still, no one teaches educators how to set, monitor, or maintain those goals, especially in content-based classrooms. In my years of practice in secondary mathematics, I have learned that effective goal setting is more than just…
Read MoreUnlocking Early Math Success: The Power of Subitizing in the Classroom
By Dr. Sherri Lorton Subitizing—the ability to instantly recognize the number of objects in a small group without counting—is a foundational skill in early mathematics education. This cognitive process enables children to perceive quantities rapidly, fostering number sense and setting the stage for more complex mathematical reasoning Understanding Subitizing Derived from the Latin word subitus,…
Read MoreThe Gift of Learning
By Dr. Natalie Fallert When I first had the idea of this blog, I wanted to call it “The Gift of Knowledge”; however, after thinking about it, I felt it more important to focus on learning, not knowledge. Let’s face it: knowledge can be something that comes pretty quickly. Knowing something doesn’t mean we took…
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