All Posts

This week’s question comes from a high school science teacher who writes: “You showed a matrix during your presentation with processes across the top (generate, critique, support, refine, problematize) and products down the side (model, explanation, argument, and so on). Can you explain what each of those processes and products actually means, and give some examples of what the tasks look like when you pair them up to assign group discussion tasks?” Thank you for sending this

A teacher asked me this question after a recent workshop, and it is one I get a lot. Whenever she tries to start a discussion, the same two or three students answer everything, the rest of the class checks out, and even when students do talk, they end up off topic in about thirty seconds. The pattern is familiar, and it is not a personality issue or a classroom-management issue. It is a design and facilitation issue, which means it is something we can actually solve. Below ar

A pre-service teacher I was observing asked me this question after one of her lessons did not go the way she had hoped, and it is one I get a lot. Whenever she sets out the materials and tells students to start working, the same thing happens. A few minutes in, hands go up. A line forms by her desk. Students who do start working are uncertain about what they should be measuring or how to use the equipment in front of them. The pattern is familiar, and it is not a student-mot