Welcome to the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast. This is a weekly show for ruckus makers — What is a ruckus maker? A leader who has found freedom from the status quo. A leader looking to escape the old routine. A leader who never, ever gives up.
Testing, testing, testing…
It’s one of the things students (and teachers) hate and school policy makers seem to love…but is there a way outside “teaching to the test”? Is there a way to create and test learning experiences that aren’t multiple choice or essay.
Dr. Jones believes it is possible to learn without “teaching the test”. She shares a unique experience that gave her the courage to stop obsessing over the test and push the boundaries without fear of criticism.
We hope you enjoy the podcast. All the highlights, resources, and next steps can be found below. Listen to the full episode here and learn more at betterleadersbetterschools.com
Key Talking Points
- The unique learning experience that almost escaped the End-of-Course test
- Dealing with overwhelm as a busy teacher, administrator, or business owner
- Finding the inspiration behind the chaos
- Dealing with criticism
- Creating successful change in a world filled with lots of paperwork policies, and delays
Key Milestones of the Episodes
[3:45] How did you get to that point where you stop obsessing over the pressure to “teach the test”?
[9:00] Dealing with overwhelm
[15:00] Creating authentic learning experiences and what to do when you hit gridlock
[20:00] How to deal with the pressure to stop obsessing over the test
[24:10] Dealing with jealousy from your peers
[27:15] How did you make successful change with reluctant school leaders and teachers?
Key Quotes
- “Let your heart and creativity guide your teaching.”
- “What we do is amazing. To be an educator is an art …Don’t forget!”
- “Paperwork is just there as a boundary pieces.”
Key Resources
A Recipe for Success Using SAS University Edition: How to Plan Your First Analytics Project
The Dot Consulting
The Dottie Rose Foundation
Don’t forget to catch more episodes and resources at the Better Leaders Better Schools website.
Other resources
Stop Motion App (IOS & Android)
SAS
Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap
About Our Guest
Dr. Sharon Jones, EdD is a former Career & Technical Education teacher turned CEO and founder of thedot.consulting and founder of The Dottie Rose Foundation, author, Senior Technical Trainer at Central Piedmont Community College and podcaster for Lady Tech Charmers.
Twitter
LinkedIn
Show Some Love
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- Organized Binder is an evidence-based RTI2 Tier 1 universal level solution
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- Is in direct alignment with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework
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You can learn more and improve your student’s success at https://organizedbinder.com/
Teach FX
- Empowers teachers with feedback on student engagement
- A fitbit for teachers that measures student engagement
- Research shows that the more students speak in class, the more they learn, and the better they perform on standardized tests.
- Use your phone or laptop to analyze your class, and the app’s artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm tracks your talk ratio automatically, with no extra work from you or an instructional coach.
- The idea is to give teachers a useful barometer of student engagement you can check every day!
You can learn more and improve your student’s success at https://teachfx.com/
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