An Instructional Best-Practices Blog
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
Starting this school year (2024-2025), all 23 of our Uncommon Schools’ 5th and 6th grade classrooms across Brooklyn, Newark, Camden, Boston, and Rochester will be using the Illustrative Math curriculum. Like many schools nationwide, teachers at Uncommon have struggled to reverse the pandemic-related learning loss. We decided that making the shift to a new … Continued
The partnership between educators and families is one of the most powerful incentives to get students to reach their reading goals. As emerging readers navigate the summer months and return to school in the fall, teachers and parents must join forces to continue to build the foundational skills for reading by practicing beyond the … Continued
There were six magic words. Six words that signaled Amani, a student in Ebony’s 5th grade class, was preparing to get laser-focused. “Ms. Lawhorn, can you check this?” When Ebony was in middle school, she remembers struggling to start writing assignments—not knowing the strength of her own voice, or even if she had one. As … Continued
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