The Wooster Teacher Learner Blog

As part of the leadership team at Wooster, I spend a lot of time with the other adults on campus thinking about what’s best for our kids and how to set up the most effective learning environments. It occurred to me recently that, as an adult, even though I know the students well and try to make the …

PBL? Genius Hour? No, we are not talking about a Public Television station or a show that you might see on one, but rather, a new(ish) and exciting way for kids to learn. Here at Wooster lots of teachers have been teaching with a PBL (Project Based Learning) approach for many years and our students …

As I transitioned into Wooster and my new role as a Bridge Instructor, one of my initial goals was to better understand how Wooster’s educators plan and then deliver skills-based instruction to students. In light of a shift to mastery-based instruction and planning, and in talking with educators in …

What do we consider sacred?

There are holy places like the altar in a place of worship. There are places of memorial like ground zero in downtown Manhattan. There are hallowed places like the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. But, what about the empowering places like the classroom?

As I begin …

It is not an unfamiliar site at Wooster to see students piling into yellow buses or school vans to visit a variety of cultural institutions. These excursions may include art, natural history, and science museums, as well as local farms, schools, and community businesses. This week we will showcase …

Lower School students were recently asked why they think Wooster School is so special and such a wonderful place in which to learn. They mentioned things like the beautiful campus and the great food. One observation was especially notable. A student said, “we have great teachers here at Wooster; …

The topic this week is all about promoting reading on campus and in our learning environments.

Here are a few things happening around campus:

Humanities I & II Literature Circles

In grades 9 and 10 Humanities students are reading books through Literature Circles. Many traditional teachers…

Summative vs. Formative Assessment

Summative assessments are formal assessments that teachers administer at the end of a learning experience to evaluate student learning. A summative assessment is intended to reflect what students did or did not learn by the end of a unit. These assessments tend …

This video is a summation of my current mindset towards my professional learning story. It highlights some recent experiences I have had that have helped me grow, and some areas I will continue to focus on moving forward. I am happy to discuss anything presented here further; you can reach out to me…

Teachers enhance how learning becomes a visible activity in the classroom- the visibility helps develop students' capacities as well as their individual and group identities as learners.

Visible classrooms can be identified by five key principles—that learning is:

1. Purposeful
2. Social
3. …
…