Digital Portfolios
Beth DeLuca
- 2014
Creating a culture of open communication and conflict resolution: Practices in a project-based middle school classroom
How do we create meaningful, equitable, deeper learning…for our teachers? This is the question that two of our contributors tackle. Celeste Kirsh shares how a specific approach to professional learning has supported and influenced her teaching. Meg Riordan and Emily Klein look at two schools to see how professional development strategies and mindset are transferred into the classroom, and how important it is for teachers to still be learners. As this article observes, although we all want our students to be deeply engaged, resilient, persistent and inquisitive, we sometimes forget that “teachers need help in learning how to do this as well, we forget that ‘better teaching’ is not instinctive.”
Bobby Shaddox
- 2013
Co-Design: A Democratic Approach to Project-Based Learning
This study describes what happened when Bobby Shaddox and his teaching partner, Allie Wong, designed a project with their team of 56 sixth grade students at High Tech Middle School in San Diego, California. They extended an approach pioneered by James Beane to a project-based learning environment and established a classroom community based on democratic values and decision-making. As they shared control in the classroom and empowered students to pursue their questions, they saw an increase in the students’ sense of independent inquiry, the spirit of collaboration and content mastery. These findings indicate that inviting students into the design of their learning can be a way to achieve deeper engagement, significant learning and prepare students to play active roles in a democratic society.
Brian Delgado
- 2010
How can ALEKS be implemented to best support the High Tech High math program?
“For the leadership project, Ryan Gallagher and I explored the question of how we could use and implement the ALEKS math software into the HTH math program. We both used ALEKS in our class. Ryan used it for select students. I had all of my students using it.
We completed teacher surveys for several of the teachers implementing it, a student survey, student interviews that were videotaped, had a student panel, and held several meetings on the topic of using ALEKS in the class. “
Britt Shirk
- 2016
How do you empower students as writers?
There are many factors that hinder young people from feeling confident expressing and communicating themselves through writing. Barriers such as minimal access to expansive vocabulary, lack of designated time to write, uncertainties around structural rules and writing in isolation all put the brakes on students who are trying to develop their voice as a writer.
Brittany Perro
- 2021
After two years of working at my school site, I noticed that English Language Learners were disproportionately represented on “”D/F lists”” and summer school referrals. The inequities facing ELL students go far beyond the walls of my school. “On average, ELLs’ academic achievement tends to be low” across the United States (Goldenberg, 2008, p. 14). To be more specific, ELL students are, on average, about 40 percentage points behind their non-ELL peers in both fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math exams (Murphy, 2015, p. 2). With the support of the GSE, I decided to take action.
My Master’s Capstone Project focused address this issue of inequity by improving teacher efficacy to increase Emerging Multilingual Learner success and belonging at High Tech Middle North County. The results? Huge growth and gains for teachers and students!
Brock Parker
- 2023
Professional Development - "Genius in the Room"
“Genius in the Room” is a teacher lead professional development. This PD allows teachers/admin. to look within to find areas of growth to push as a professional. Through a partnership with another colleague, individuals can look for change ideas to better there practice in multiple areas within their profession. These areas include classroom culture, differentiation, deeper learning, equity, inclusion, student engagement, leadership, and/or any other areas that could use a push in your practice.
Bryan Meyer
- 2013
Mathematics and/of ourselves
People form their definition of mathematics and their identity in relation to that mathematics through their experiences in the classroom. My research has led me to investigate how student agency, or the willingness and/or perceived ability to act in our experience, is intimately connected to mathematical identity. In my investigation, I have taken a critical eye to the formation of identity, conjectured about the construction of knowledge, and reconsidered what might count as mathematical activity. All of this is an attempt to foster agency and restore the human element to the mathematics classroom by centering it in the habits of mind that are part of us all.
Cady Staff
- 2010
What happens when social entrepreneurship and the "new capitalism" become an integral part of my curriculum?
The following action research project is in response to the question: what happens when social entrepreneurship and the new capitalism becomes an integral part of my classroom curriculum?
Cara Eleonora Daza
- 2023
Educational Consulting with Cara Daza
Cara is an experienced and data-driven entrepreneur and educator. Connect with her for a free consultation if you are looking for individual coaching or school-wide professional development.
Cassie Pergament
- 2011
How can we develop structures and a common language to support and increase the efficacy of collegial coaching?
How can we develop structures and a common language to support and increase the efficacy of collegial coaching?