Zach Groshell Education, Learning, motivation, Pastoral Care, relationships, Student, Teachers

Is Classroom Management Based on a “Dim View” of Human Nature?

One of my favorite episodes of the Progressively Incorrect podcast is the one in which we discuss an opinion piece by Alfie Kohn on classroom management. Consistent with his past writing, Kohn takes issue with the idea that schools should concern themselves with externally regulating students’ behaviors, saying that classroom management is based on a … Continue reading Is Classroom Management Based on a “Dim View” of Human Nature?

Zach Groshell Education, Inquiry, Learning, Papers and Podcasts, Progressively Incorrect, Teachers

S1E6: The Classroom Management Field Can’t Stop Chasing the Wrong Goal by Alfie Kohn

In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, Zach Groshell and Bradley Arnold discuss "The Classroom Management Field Can't Stop Chasing the Wrong Goal" by Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn). Brad suggests that in an ideal world progressive ideas of classroom management would be enough, but that we live in the real world. Zach wonders what use it is to live in any other world but the real world, and shares some of the real world strategies he's used for classroom management.

Zach Groshell Education, Inquiry, Learning, Papers and Podcasts, Progressively Incorrect, Teachers

S1E5: Minding the Knowledge Gap by Daisy Christodoulou

Wielding a popular inquiry cycle, Zach attempts to demonstrate that progressive thought encourages teachers to devalue knowledge, while Brad is reminded of (bad) teachers from his education who drilled isolated facts without helping students make connections between the facts.

Can a theory improve your teaching by educationrickshaw.com
Zach Groshell differentiation, Education, Learning, PD, Research, Student, Teachers

Can a Theory Improve Your Teaching?

If much of what we learned in teacher training was not very useful once we got to the classroom, and if some theories we were taught, like learning styles, were just plain false, it's tempting to conclude that theory has little to offer the busy teacher. Having used cognitive load theory to streamline my teaching, I can't agree.

Zach Groshell differentiation, Education, Inquiry, Learning, motivation, Student, Teachers

Teach First, Ask Questions Second

Somewhere along the way I developed the habit of using an unproductive questioning pattern called "guess what's in my head." This is when I ask questions that the students couldn't possibly respond to because they haven't yet learned the material required to answer the questions.

The Sad, Sad Story of the Hollow Curriculum
Zach Groshell Education, IBPYP, Inquiry, Learning, motivation, Play, Student, Teachers

The Sad, Sad Story of the Hollow Curriculum

When I first started teaching 4th grade, I inherited a social studies unit on Ancient Egypt, a topic that is universally adored by students at this age level. Over the years of teaching this unit, the 4th grade teachers had developed a document - what we'd now call a knowledge organizer - of all of … Continue reading The Sad, Sad Story of the Hollow Curriculum