by John McCarthy | Jan 15, 2014 | Assessments, Differentiated Instruction, Formative Assessments, Global Skills, PBL, strategies
Students need opportunities to practice Global Competencies like Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Innovation, and Influencing across networks. This is why working in teams gives them the opportunities to practice these skills and to get coaching by the...
by John McCarthy | Jul 5, 2013 | curiculum, Differentiated Instruction, PBL, strategies, Writing
The Window activity was taught to me by Sally Jessup, my close friend and colleague. She had a gift for recognizing in others a capacity that they did not always see in themselves. The Window activity, as she designed it, is a powerful tool for inspiring writing in...
by John McCarthy | Jun 21, 2013 | Differentiated Instruction, PBL, Voice, Writing
Student voice in learning is a reoccurring topic for me. At every workshop I do, voice becomes an integrated action item that teachers grapple with. This was the case during my sessions at the PBL World Conference in Napa, CA. Fostering student voice is a critical key...
by John McCarthy | Jun 11, 2013 | Concepts, Differentiated Instruction, PBL
On June 20th, I’ll be presenting at PBL World on Differentiated Instruction (DI). As I immerse myself into that process, I thought this would be a good time to make several posts in the theme of DI. What follows is a way to kick things off… Project Based...
by John McCarthy | Jun 3, 2013 | curiculum, Differentiated Instruction, PBL
I love watching the show, “So you think you can dance.” A show about “amateur” (emphasis on the air quotes) dancers who perform on a televised stage in the hopes of either winning or staying in the competition long enough to get noticed. When...
by John McCarthy | May 13, 2013 | Differentiated Instruction
“Defense wins games; rebounds wins championships.” As a sports fan and a former basketball coach I’ve seen this to be a truism. Take the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s. Michael Jordan was the leader who could will a victory from games that should have been lost. While an...
