Andrew Ordover's Blog: Scenes from a Broken Hand, page 14

Academic Intervention: What Does it Really Mean?

Outside the classroom, the word “intervention” has pretty clear
associations. Think of the literal meaning of the word—a coming between—and how
it manifests itself in our culture. We all know of instances where people have
had to place themselves in someone else’s pathway and make them travel in a
different direction, usually because their current pathway is leading to danger
or illness (we’re

Taming the Chaos Within

(originally published at www.catapultlearning.com) 


“How can you make a world for
people to live in until you’ve first put order in yourself?”


Thornton Wilder, The Skin of our
Teeth


 


Early in my teaching career, my
headmaster called a faculty meeting and had us watch a documentary about
learning disabilities. Most of the students in our small school struggled with
a disability of

Connecting the Dots: The Essential Relationship between a School’s Mission Statement and Its Day-to-Day

(originally published at www.catapultlearning.com)

At one of Catapult Learning’s recent regional leadership conferences, I spent some time with principals and teacher-leaders from our partner schools. We talked about the importance of connecting the dots from the school’s vision and mission to its values, and then all the way down to the daily tasks that each member of the school family engages

Preparing the Ground for Learning Something New: Part II

“Behold, a sower went forth to sow…” (Matthew 13:3)

A couple of months ago, I talked about the parable of the sower and the seeds. You remember the story: a man sows seeds; some of them grow, some of them don’t. The seeds that fall on stone have no topsoil to accept the roots. The seeds that fall in the weeds are choked before they can reach the sun. The seeds that fall on fertile ground grow

A Man--and a School--For all Seasons

(originally published at www.catapultlearning.com)


I didn’t intend to be an educator. My parents were both
teachers—my father at a law school and my mother in a fifth grade classroom--but
it never occurred to me to follow in their footsteps. I was going to be an
artist—a playwright, actually. I worked for my university theatre after
graduating from college, and then went to graduate school

Five Essential Questions

Sometimes in your journey through life, you encounter writers
or artists who speak in a language that feels like it was written just for you.
The things they say or show you may be brand new, but those things resonate and
reverberate with you, touching something that’s already there. They wake up
something inside you that feels absolutely your own, but also brand new.




Grant Wiggins was

Preparing the Ground for Learning Something New

“Behold,
a sower went forth to sow…” (Matthew 13:3)




We
all know the parable: a man sows seeds; some of them grow, some of them don’t.
The seeds that fall on stone have no topsoil to accept the roots. The seeds
that fall in the weeds are choked before they can reach the sun. The seeds that
fall on fertile ground grow tall and strong. We learn that words of wisdom and
enlightenment are not

Owning the Room: A Different Look at Teacher Preparation

(originally published at www.catapultlearning.com)




I’ve been writing and speaking recently about an idea I’m
calling, “Teaching
for the Stretch,” which is all about engaging students in “conceptual play”
to help them reach higher and deeper levels of understanding. Part of this
approach involves asking students more open-ended, speculative questions. As
I’ve been speaking with teachers and

Can We Get There From Here? From Rhetoric to Real Discussion about the Common Core State Standards

(first published at www.catapultlearning.com)


It seems like the Common Core State Standards have devolved
into yet another opportunity for the citizens of our great nation to call each
other idiots. We have one bloc of people who feel that the standards present a
rare, historic chance to bring some cohesion, unity, and rigor to our country’s
education system, and another bloc of people who

The Little Things Speak Loudly

It may seem churlish to criticize a children’s movie—and one
coming out at Christmas, no less—for its political stance—but our cultural
products do speak volumes about us and the way we see the world. I took my
children to see the remake of “Annie” over the New Year’s weekend, and apart
from aesthetic criticisms (of which I definitely had a few), I found its point
of view about wealth and the