Read and Coach

 As an Atari-addicted, latchkey member of Generation X, I played a lot of Frogger as a child. Unfortunately, I lacked video game playing prowess, so my frogs were always hopping toward their death. What I remember most about those days (besides the bloop noise of my frog jumping across the road and the satisfactory musical accompaniment burned into the brain of every 80s child) is how much fun it was to play. Games, whether frog based or not, are vital to student engagement. We need to play to learn. Robert Marzano, The Godfather of educational research, has recently renewed his efforts to organize and categorize what works in schools. Along with John Hattie, they form a research power duo that every teacher should know. Both of them mark the power of games for learning. Marzano believes using academic games can provide friendly, low-stakes controversy as a powerful engagement tool. Hattie's research  also cites play programs with a .50 effect size on student achievement and...

 I hate public restrooms. They're exposed and awkward and generally unpleasant. On a recent trip through the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, however, I noticed that patrons were asked to hit a quick button to provide feedback on the airport restroom. After fairly intense deliberation about the germs on that button, I hit the smiley face to indicate this wasn't the worst public restroom I had experienced, washed my hands again, and departed feeling productive. While there are many connections we can make between public restrooms and education these days, the more productive emphasis is on what it means to go public with our practices so we can receive feedback. It's time to embrace that exposed, awkward, and generally unpleasant process that can create a monumental shift for students and teachers. In the book Principals Who Learn , St. Louis Area administrator Barbara Kohm wrote about the vital importance of making our work in education public. She states, "exposi...