KML Curriculum and Instruction Blog

“When we treat man as he is, we make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer, physicist, biologist, and artist “As Samuel Johnson purportedly wrote, “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” ― Adam M. Grant, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success I've been listening to  Give  And Take  while I take my dog for walks and am driving.  In the book Adam Grant explains the three different types of how we interact with others and shows you why being a giver is, contrary to popular belief, the best way to success in business and life.  In one chapter he explains that givers are often more successful as lawyers and salespeople because rather than pushing their ideas on others they lead with empathy and pose questions to better understand the situation and let others draw their own conclusio...

KML Family, Jay McTighe, one of the authors of  Understanding by Design , shares the following ideas for planning great lessons: "Focus on the larger ideas and processes, teach them in ways that kids understand them, and give them lots of practice applying their learning."  Jay McTighe from the  Backwards Podcast .   STUDENT CHOICE AND VOICE One way to engage more students is give students more control of their learning.  You can find some ways to do that in this article: " 10 Ways To Give Students More Control Of Their Education " EXIT TICKET IDEAS Here are a wide variety of options that you might give students to consolidate their learning at the end of a lesson or unit. Saved to serve, Matt

I finished reading the ASCD Educational Leadership issue entitled "Rooted in Reading."  Below are some of my key takeaways: " Within this growing culture of busyness, we believe schools have an important counter role to play. One critical antidote to this epidemic of overload is to reorient reading instruction to cultivate intentionally present, mindful readers through classroom time dedicated to engaging in immersive reading." " As educators, we must do something to counteract the push for fast reading. We must look at not only how we are creating the time for slow reading in our classrooms (Newkirk, 2010), but also how we are equipping children to engage in the kinds of immersive reading that allow for enveloping pleasure outside of school, where digital distractions are even more omnipresent." " The authors state that "the research base on student-selected reading is robust and conclusive: Students read more, understand more, and are mo...

I attended the Google Anywhere School yesterday in Chicago and learned about some new tools and updates to tools that I was already using. You can find my travel diary from the conference here . ScreenCastify is an extension that teachers and students can use to easily create videos with a webcam or by "filming" the screens of your computer while providing explanations.  They just updated the free version to include trimming and editing options.  I even learned how to make my own gif with my group! Below are some of the tools that might be used in various departments: SOCIAL STUDIES Google Tour Creator - We created a tour of Mt. Everest base camp. Google Tour Builder Google Expeditions ( list of field trips available) and Google Earth can be used to explore areas throughout the world. SCIENCE https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wImGnftAz5BL_Qj3PREUIHic50SQks8s/view OK Go Musical Group Google Science Journal (Free App) https://sciencejournal.withgoogl...

I received a free copy of Clearing a Path for the Gospel - A Lutheran Approach to Apologetics  by Arthur A. Eggers and Geoffrey A. Kieta and have begun reading it. I enjoy reading the perspective of a scientist who warns us about overstating our case for creationism by citing scientific evidence for a young Earth and attacking the scientific evidence for an "old" Earth and universe.   A quote that has stuck with me is: "Science can only measure things as they appear, not as they really are.  Therefore, there cannot be anything called "true science" which will find precisely what the Bible says. Efforts of sinful human beings simply cannot duplicate the revelation of the Lord." The authors also contrast "apparent age" (as measured through scientific dating techniques) vs. "actual age."   The apparent age is the best science can determine with the techniques that scientists currently have.  They also explain that anytime something is c...

My father-in-law shared a copy of  And She Was a Christian - Why Do Believers Commit Suicide (published by NPH) by Peter Preus (a LCMS pastor).   His wife committed suicide.  He shares a short history of the views of suicide in the Christian church and then shares his interpretation of Bible passages as the apply to Scripture based on advancements we have made in better understanding mental health issues.    It opened my eyes to the struggles that many have with mental illness and depression. One quote that I am wrestling with is this: "Your loved one (who committed suicide) died because, according to his merciful wisdom, our God and Savior deemed it was time for him to die?" I'd love to hear reactions to this quote.

How can we break down the content silos of high school courses so that students can see the connections between skills and content of each course to one another and to the roles of their lives? How can we better carry out our mission statement and help our students meet the exit outcomes of our school? In the spring of 2017 Matt submitted a proposal for the Teach to Lead Summit (organized in part by the US Department of Education) to collaborate with the freshmen teachers at KMLHS to answer these questions. To his great surprise, his proposal was accepted, so he headed to Columbus, OH, with Dan Albrecht and Josh Lindner on May 5 to do just that. You see the logic model for their project here or at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ityK9DUvTvC_Q5hQItcJ17Y2htUJM7662NIvqlfI3pM/edit?usp=sharing.