Michele Gregoire Gill

* I wish Bluesky had an option to edit typos!

Education Practice Briefs Visit the post for more.

Teacher well-being ought to matter as much as student well-being. Sadly, neither receive very much priority in schools these days.

Hint for school leaders: Give teachers breaks. Treat them as professional professionals.

New study: Watching a short video that inspired hope was as effective as a brief meditation at mediating stress.

Just received this message from Orange County Public schools about serious declines in enrollment— more than double what was expected. Some students are going to lose their teachers and classes. 2,500 immigrant students are no longer attending school

And unlike charter schools, private schools are not required to have accountability measures in place to monitor student learning nor do they need to hire certified teachers. Further, they are allowed to exclude certain students, such as students with disabilities.

More Florida kids attend a school of choice rather than a neighborhood public school Almost 1.8 million Florida K-12 students attended a school of choice during the 2023-2024 school year.

Instead of providing greater access for lower income families, vouchers are being used by the affluent to help subsidize their children's private school education
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I see this happening all the time. If we only treated (and paid) teachers as professionals, this wouldn’t be happening

“That great, great teacher or school leader who was once so awesome… is now designing CPD or writing a book or is Director of Belonging or somesuch in an edu business de jour”

This doesn’t mean that changing school systems, or any unhealthy system, is unimportant. It is essential to work toward this goal. But this review is a good reminder, that when we are stuck in unhealthy systems, there are resources and practices can help us thrive even in trying times.

Well-being is even more critical in these trying times.
A new scoping review on teacher well-being, just published in EPR, found the mindfulness interventions support well-being and help prevent burnout.

link.springer.com/content/pdf/...

U.S. Department of Education Takes Action to Eliminate DEI The U.S. Department of Education has taken action to eliminate harmful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including references to them in public-facing communication channels and its ...

Press Release: U.S. Department of Education Takes Action to Eliminate DEI

"The U.S. Department of Education has taken action to eliminate harmful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives..."

www.ed.gov/about/news/p...

This is such a helpful and beautiful perspective. Thank you @mishellbaker.bsky.social

What makes a good teacher? Or coach, facilitator, trainer?

Which of these are difficult, if not impossible, to enact in the current climate of k-12 schooling?

I thought it was a newspaper, not a literary journal

The Hidden Curriculum What are schools really teaching students?

"It's important to know that as a teacher, it is easier to do more harm than good."

-Fendler (2011)

The Paradox of Choice Where to send your kids to school?

School choice. It’s here whether we like it or not. Here are some ways to navigate its complexities.

Wow. I’ve expressed concerns about Frontiers for a long time and won’t submit or review for them, but this suggests things are really bad.

The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2024 It’s that time again—our yearly review of the research you should read, from the sneaky ways that inattention can spread in your classroom to the promises and perils of AI.

10 important education studies in 2024 by @edutopia.org Warm demanders, AI that doesn't give answers, learning from peers, Covid's long tail and more
www.edutopia.org/article/the-...

School Culture: Does a Fish Know What Water is Like? A checklist for parents, teachers, and other stakeholders to survey the health of their local school.

A checklist for parents, teachers, and other stakeholders to survey the health of their local school

Colorful design with the words "You belong."

Incredibly excited about a special issue @chrisrozek.bsky.social and I are editing on SCHOOL BELONGING with Ed Psych Review! 🎉

The first paper is out! Once published, all papers can be found here: link.springer.com/collections/...

I’ll update this thread when each article gets posted ⬇️

My Audacious Recommendation 10 guiding principles for schools to make them places where teachers and students thrive

First do no harm… And other guiding principles for K12 schools

How America Got Mean In a culture devoid of moral education, generations are growing up in a morally inarticulate, self-referential world.

“The “research ideal” supplanted the earlier humanistic ideal of cultivating the whole student. As academics grew more specialized…the big questions—What is the meaning of life? How do you live a good life?—lost all purchase. Such questions became unprofessional for an academic to even ask.”

Power, Control, and Politics The not-so-hidden influences on our current educational system

Newest issue of the Transforming Schools newsletter is out today!

Barnes & Noble is making a comeback | CNN Business The world’s largest retail bookseller is expanding at a breakneck pace and is on track to reach its goal of more than 60 planned openings this year. The plan marks a dramatic shift from when it closed...

What if all school leaders were permissioned to have local control of their schools?

“Whereas, in fact, the sensible thing to do is just have fun in each individual store.”

www.cnn.com/2024/11/16/b...

If you or anyone you know is interested in truly transforming public education, I would love to be connected. I’ve been creating a grassroots network of those of us interested in school transformation, and I would love to gather more of us together

(I also think it’s a critical subject for everyone to study, but that’s another post.)

Philosophy is underrated Beliefs about schooling influence every part of the learning experience

Early in my career, I noticed that educational philosophy was being removed from teacher training programs, at least here in Florida. I think it is important to study the philosophy of the field one is about to pursue.

Guess who's back? I guess I'm not done talking about schools and education

I've re-launched my newsletter about transforming schools. Would love to have you join the conversation!

The world doesn’t need another podcast…but I am playing with the idea of starting one. Anyone have suggestions for how to start? I have a microphone!

What seems to be working is using traditional grading as the default, but allowing a portfolio option for those who feel that the course grades don’t adequately reflect their learning in the course.

Anyone else have suggestions for what works for their classes?

My teaching evaluations are lower when I use portfolio grading with my grad students versus traditional grading. Student dislike the not knowing their grade till the end of the semester, even though they are guaranteed a good grade if they meet the portfolio criteria. 1/2