Teacher Talk
How to Keep Kids Off Their Phones While Homeschooling
By: Scott Wilson | Sep 2, 2026
The most reliable way to keep kids off their phones while homeschooling is to agree on a spot where the phone goes during schoolwork, out of reach and out of sight. Set a clear return point, keep the work surface phone-free, and switch off notifications before the session starts.
Teachers have been working on this problem for a long time. Now it's your kitchen table.
Eyes down ...
5 Questions That Help Build Our Reflective Capacity
By: Amy Konen | Oct 23, 2017
Building reflective capacity starts with asking better questions about your own practice, not doing more of it. Working from Pete Hall and Alisa Simeral's Teach, Reflect, Learn, I use five of my own: how aware I am, how intentionally I plan, whether I know my actions worked, how I respond, ...
How to Write IEP Goals: A Teacher’s Guide to Measurable Goals
By: Mary McLaughlin | Oct 20, 2017
IDEA requires IEP goals to be measurable, and a widely used way to get there is to name four things: the condition, the specific skill, the criterion for success, and the timeframe. Anchor all four to baseline data. "Billy will solve two-digit addition problems with 80% accuracy across three trials" ...
Parent Participation in IEP Meetings: What IDEA Requires
By: Mary McLaughlin | Oct 18, 2017
IDEA includes one or both parents as required members of the IEP team, and 34 CFR §300.322 places responsibility on the public agency to take steps to ensure parents are present or have an opportunity to participate. That means adequate notice, a mutually agreed-on time and place, and conference calls ...
Danielson 1f: Designing Student Assessments Explained
By: Jon Konen | Oct 10, 2017
Designing student assessments is Component 1f of the Danielson Framework, inside Domain 1: Planning and Preparation. It covers four elements: congruence with instructional outcomes, criteria and standards, design of formative assessments, and use for planning. In the Danielson Framework, 1f focuses primarily on assessment planning and design; how it is ...
Designing Coherent Instruction: 7 Questions for Danielson 1e
By: Jon Konen | Oct 2, 2017
Designing coherent instruction is Danielson component 1e: building lessons and units that connect to real outcomes, use the right materials, group students on purpose, and follow a logical sequence. The Danielson Group renamed it Planning Coherent Instruction in the 2022 framework, but the four elements it measures haven't changed. Is the ...
Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources: Danielson Component 1d
By: Jon Konen | Sep 18, 2017
Demonstrating knowledge of resources is Component 1d of the Danielson Framework, inside Domain 1. It asks what you know about materials for your classroom, for your own professional growth, and for your students. The framework's standard scale runs Unsatisfactory, Basic, Proficient, and Distinguished, though districts adapt it, so check your ...
Setting Instructional Outcomes: Danielson Component 1c Explained
By: Jon Konen | Sep 10, 2017
Setting Instructional Outcomes is Domain 1, Component 1c of Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching, and it asks whether your learning goals are rigorous, sequenced, and matched to the students in front of you. Evaluators look for outcomes that build on prior learning, cross subject areas, and stay flexible enough to ...
Demonstrating Knowledge of Students: Danielson 1b Explained
By: Jon Konen | Sep 10, 2017
Demonstrating knowledge of students is Component 1b of the Danielson Framework, called "Knowing and Valuing Students" in the framework's current edition. It comes down to how well you know your students' development, learning needs, interests, and cultural backgrounds, and how that knowledge shapes what you teach. These nine questions are ...
Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy: 10 Questions
By: Jon Konen | Sep 6, 2017
Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy is Component 1a of Danielson's Framework for Teaching. It covers three things: how well you know your subject, how well you understand which concepts depend on which, and how well you match teaching strategies to that content. Possible evidence includes lesson plans, coursework, and ...
Engaging Special Education Students: What Actually Works
By: Mary McLaughlin | Sep 6, 2017
Engaging special education students starts by treating disengagement as information, not defiance. Give students more than one way to take content in, more than one way to show what they know, and a say in their own goals. Hands, eyes, movement, and choice do more than a worksheet ever will. Horrified. ...