by Diamond Alexander | Jun 12, 2015 | Character, Collaboration & Communication, Student-led Conferences
By: Bill Day, Math Teacher; Mary Gornick, Business Manager; Bethany Jenkins, Third Grade Teacher; and Treena Wynter, Assistant Teacher As teachers, we have the peculiar task of making ourselves unnecessary. When students enter our classrooms, they need our help to...
by Diamond Alexander | May 27, 2015 | Character, Growth Mindset, Student-led Conferences
By: Edline Blot, 1st Grade Teacher; Kirstyn Fletcher, Assistant Teacher; Rossana Mahvi, Assistant Principal; and Erica Marcus, English Teacher “…typically we limit our vision of who can productively use data: school leaders, coaches, and teachers. Students are...
by Diamond Alexander | May 8, 2015 | Character, Growth Mindset
By: Jesse Martindale, Assistant Teacher; Maggie Bello, Chief Academic Officer; Lesley Riddick, Special Education Teacher; and Erika Delgado, Spanish Teacher In 167 AD the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius drafted a now notorious text on what could easily be described as a...
by Diamond Alexander | Apr 24, 2015 | Play-based Learning
By: Rebecca Wenstrom, Middle School Inclusion Specialist; Taryn Peacock, Second Grade Teacher; Julian Wilson, Assistant Teacher; and Tonia Vines, Arts Coordinator What joyful childhood memory can you recall most clearly? When asked this question, one grown-up recalled...
by Diamond Alexander | Apr 10, 2015 | Differentiation, Flexible Groups, Independent Centers
By: Jennifer McCormick, Middle School Assistant Principal; Mike Jordan, Assistant Teacher; Kai Blackwood, Kindergarten Teacher; and Elizabeth Leboo, ELL Teacher In a 4th grade classroom, the teachers have planned a close reading task on anthropology, in preparation...
by Diamond Alexander | Apr 3, 2015 | Inquiry, Problem-based Learning, Tasks
By: Jazmin Heartfield, Prekindergarten Teacher; Meaghan Petersack, Second Grade Teacher; and Elaine Hou, Middle School Principal What does problem-based learning look like at Two Rivers? Problems are opportunities, but how does a school create and capitalize on those...
by Diamond Alexander | Mar 27, 2015 | Inquiry, Problem-based Learning, Tasks
By: Jazmin Heartfield, Prekindergarten Teacher; Meaghan Petersack, Second Grade Teacher; and Elaine Hou, Middle School Principal “What makes you the best candidate for this job?” Fast-forward years from their career at Two Rivers, all of our students will have this...
by Diamond Alexander | Mar 12, 2015 | Character, Growth Mindset
By: Caroline Mwendwa-Baker, Elementary School Principal; Penny Perrott, Physical Education Teacher; and Anya Rosenberg, Assistant Teacher It’s Wednesday morning on a crisp day in early November and students in the Fourth Grade are getting ready for their weekly...
by Diamond Alexander | Jun 3, 2014 | Grading
By: Jeff Heyck-Williams What’s in a grade? Why do we grade? What do grades communicate? These questions may seem to have obvious answers, but they warrant consideration as we realize that grading is a major way that schools communicate both how individual students...
by Diamond Alexander | Nov 21, 2013 | Math, School Culture
By: Jeff Heyck-Williams At Two Rivers we have made a conscious effort to change the way that everyone thinks about, talks about, and engages in math. We have shifted the expectations to place the emphasis away from just memorizing math facts to also understanding the...
