I’ve been doing follow-up workshops with teachers who attended my Rigor and Relevance training. Our goal is to discuss their implementation of the learning strategies I shared in our first training session. Everyone agrees that rigor, relevance, and student-centered learning are good in theory, but how do we get past the challenges? - lack of time, students who can’t (or won’t) do independent work, overcrowded curriculum, state tests, etc. I’ve developed this "Quick Guide to Rigor, Relevance and Reflection" to assist teachers in evaluating instruction in their classrooms.  Download Quickguide-rigor-relevance-reflection (267 KB pdf)

Our goal is connect students with their learning. To enable them to answer questions like:

• What am I learning today?
• Why am I learning it?
• How can I use this knowledge and these skills to make a difference in my life?
• How can I work with teachers and other students to improve my learning?

Throughout their lives our students will need to be adaptable, self-directed learners. They will need to be able to reflect and:

• Judge if this information and these skills are appropriate to their goals.
• Appraise the merits of different strategies and problem solving approaches.
• Evaluate their progress as a learner.