Tag: Resources for Teachers

The science of reading offered a necessary and overdue corrective on the practices that teach students to read. But as we make strides there, we face a new question: What’s next? Once our students cross the decoding threshold and read with relative fluency, the next project of K-12 is strengthening comprehension—that complex tangle of knowledge, … Continued

The other day, a school leader shared a story that stopped me in my tracks. A kindergarten scholar was crying at dismissal. When asked what was wrong, the student wasn’t upset about leaving friends or a scraped knee—they were heartbroken because they had to leave early and would miss working with their Bee-Bot robot. When … Continued

Social workers at Uncommon Schools juggle guiding students through the pressures of academics, social challenges, and crises. Today, social workers are getting help from an AI-powered lesson-planning assistant that supports the design and delivery of high-quality, student-centered social-emotional learning (SEL). On any given day, Uncommon social workers move between one-on-one counseling, small group facilitation, classroom … Continued

Last year, we launched Illustrative Mathematics (IM) across all 25 of our 5th and 6th-grade math classrooms. As we shared in our initial blog post, we adopted IM because of its rich problem-based approach, focus on student discourse, and alignment to rigorous standards. One year into implementation, we’ve learned a great deal both about what’s … Continued

At Uncommon Schools, we are always looking for ways to serve our students better by innovating and building upon best practices, and this year is no exception. In August, we launched the pilot of a new phonics program at many of our schools. Developed by the University of Florida Literacy Institute, UFLI (pronounced “u-fly”) Foundations … Continued

Eighth-grade math teacher Katherine Goett always has a math joke ready for her students at Downtown Middle School (DTMS). On this day, she tells several.  Q: “What’s a bird’s favorite math class?” A: Owl-gebra.  It’s a fitting joke for an Algebra I teacher whose students boasted the highest passing rate in the Uncommon Schools-North Star … Continued

Every student deserves an excellent teacher. That’s why staff professional development is at the heart of Uncommon’s mission to prepare students for college and beyond. While most schools focus their attention and energy on teaching foundational skills to new teachers, Uncommon offers a dual pathway to student achievement: show new teachers the ropes and expand … Continued

When I decided to introduce Environmental Science into our high school STEM curriculum in 2004, I did not fully appreciate the impact of teaching students how to access knowledge through direct skill instruction and practice as the answer to building true STEM expertise. Students took notes in my classes, even as young fifth graders, but … Continued