Dynamite Lesson Plan - Latest Comments

Re: Thumbs Up for Common Core and Collaborative Groups

Damien Riley — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 00:31:33 -0000

Testing Disqus commenting profile.

Re: The Parent Trigger and 2 Radical Changes I Suggest for Public Education in 2012 and Beyond

Damien Riley — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 23:53:11 -0000

You are very welcome. :)

Re: The Parent Trigger and 2 Radical Changes I Suggest for Public Education in 2012 and Beyond

Winterfat — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 23:00:40 -0000

Thanks!

Re: Teaching, Inspiration, and Rock ‘n Roll

Damien Riley — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:31:22 -0000

Thanks for your comment. It fills me with a renewed sense of zeal. This is, after all, a quite old article. Thanks!

Re: Teaching, Inspiration, and Rock ‘n Roll

Sharilee Swaity — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 14:10:58 -0000

I love this idea! As an INFP, I am afraid of losing the things I am passionate about, while going back to teaching. Your idea of doing something you are passionate about, to help you connect to the material, is lovely. I will use this. Thanks!

Re: Building a Classroom – Hanging Butcher Paper

Sarah — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:31:59 -0000

Looks great!

Re: What Should we Test in Public Education?

Damien Riley — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:35:07 -0000

You make some good points. I agree it is not as important "what" teachers teach as much as the way they teach it. Thank you also for teaching music/band. I believe musical influence is so important to our world.

Re: What Should we Test in Public Education?

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 20:58:23 -0000

No, Mr. Riley, it's a bit more complicated than this. As a music teacher (band), I do agree with you that there is a tremendous over-reliance on standardized testing as a measure of school effectiveness and overall student achievement. Finland, globally one of the highest achieving systems in the world, reformed their education system by reforming their economic policy, something the US and Wall Street seem quite unwilling to do.

Furthermore, education isn't about the subjects we teach, it's about how we teach them. Our objective in schools is to engage students in learning that enables them to learn more effectively on their own. Making a perfect score on a standardized test doesn't mean you can learn effectively on your own any more than missing every question determines you cannot learn on your own. Standardized tests are insufficient measures of student achievement for this very reason.

As for the question of what to test in public education - we should start by testing the politicians and billionaires on what they actually know about teaching, then the administrators. We should test the college education curriculum and state licensing standards that enable dispassionate, uncaring teachers to enter the classroom and abuse their union-supported profession. We should test the system at the top first, because that's where all the problems in education continue to originate.

Re: Opting out of Testing Gaining Favor with Parents? My response

Damien Riley — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:00:37 -0000

That is really nice of you to say. I don't always comment on them but I really like the articles you share on Twitter and Facebook. I do agree that the "test" should not be more placed as more important than the whole child. Have a great night.

Re: Opting out of Testing Gaining Favor with Parents? My response

Carlos Mendoza — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:55:38 -0000

Thanks Damien. I always appreciate your comments and insights. You have an interesting perspective on education that is valuable and worth hearing.

Re: Side-Yard Superhero (Book Review)

Damien Riley — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:58:56 -0000

You're welcome and I certainly agree that teaching comes from often unlikely places. Have a great day.

Re: Side-Yard Superhero (Book Review)

Ashley Depew — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:50:34 -0000

Thanks for the review on Bernie's book, I think I would really like this type of book. I like stories from "unlikely teacher", because I think we all are.

Re: Music in the Classroom Still Standing

Becca — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:31:06 -0000

I love involving music into the classrooms that I am in. I feel like the students pay more attention to what is going on. It allows them to use different parts of the mind and allows them to experience something new. I'm a strong believer in music in the classroom.

Re: Teaching, Inspiration, and Rock ‘n Roll

Chris Thompson — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:00:45 -0000

Agreed that the creative teaching approach is the best way to go.
If you can get the students more engaged and excited they learn a lot more. Well done.
Just wish their were more teachers like you where I live!

Re: Using Google Calendar as a Lesson Plan Tool and Syncing With Work

Damien Riley — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:10:35 -0000

Postscript: I put Remember the Milk email reminders into the mix and am feeling quite pleased with the result. This stuff is incredible but I know not everybody is into computers enough to pull it off. If you are brave and willing, give it a try.

Re: Angela Maiers Editorial: “Superman Ain’t Comin’ and Why That’s a Good Thing!”

Damien Riley — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 06:10:58 -0000

I wouldn't call it "offending" but it certainly was not the amazing inspiration the media has played it up to be. Combining passion with strategies that work to reach all kids is what I do every day. I liked your comment, it sums up how I feel as well.

Re: Angela Maiers Editorial: “Superman Ain’t Comin’ and Why That’s a Good Thing!”

Jason — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:17:54 -0000

I can see your point. I haven't seen the offending movie, but I certainly get your point. We do have to be a lot more proactive and getting about the business. My school certainly isn't waiting for Superman, Superwoman or Supergirl. We become those people everyday and get at it.

Re: Some Relaxation Methods

Dan@weathervane — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:45:47 -0000

Thanks Damien, I just spent 4 hours in front of my pc and after doing toe scrunches and yoga practice I feel refreshing. It's not only for teachers but we (Computer Geeks) can also use it.

Re: Paperless Math

Damien Riley — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:40:57 -0000

For me, the whiteboards are only classroom teaching assessment tools. I dont use them for benchmark stuff.

Re: Paperless Math

Janet — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:58:26 -0000

Thanks for the response. I already to formative assessments with individual whiteboards - I love the 'yes no yes' quick responses. I can catch those kids who won't write down the work in a notebook, too.

I'm more interested in how you do summative assessments. How do you manage Benchmark testing or unit tests?

Re: Paperless Math

Damien Riley — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:14:42 -0000

Great news, congratulations. I use whiteboards as a form of instant assessment. For example, if i am doing double digit multiplication, I teach it. model it, and then have them do one independently. I have them raise them all at the same time and I can quickly scan the class to see how many are getting the right answer. So much better than grading papers. You are limited however to one question at a time so you may want to do a few before you move on.

Re: Internal vs. External Motivation for Teachers

Elizabeth Bragagnini — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:00:15 -0000

This was a great post. I related to it completely and it further reinforced what I have been studying in my Master Program. As educators, most of us rely on our internal motivation to get our work done. As Daniel Pink said, Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose is what intrinsic motivation is all about.

Re: Kids Getting to You?

Damien Riley — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 02:28:23 -0000

Thank you Jodi.

Re: Kids Getting to You?

Jodi — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:45:08 -0000

I agree that there are going to be moments when you feel overwhelmed and stressed out. These are very helpful tips that I will remember to use as a teacher. Every job has its positive and negative aspects, the trick is learning how to overcome the negative and focus on the positive. These tips you have given will provide a means for that.

Re: Look at it Differently, or Where I Managed to Put the Bookshelf

Damien Riley — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:25:10 -0000

Yeah, I should probably take that first post's picture out. Quite misleading. Thanks again for your remarks.