Ross Cooper

The Problem with “Formative Assessment Tools” (part 1 of 2)

The Problem

It started with generally clunky and overpriced “student clickers” by such brands as SMART Technologies and Einstruction, and over the past few years it has transitioned into slick apps like Socrative, Kahoot!, and Plickers. Time and time again we have seen these apps demoed during professional development sessions and written about on websites and blogs. Nevertheless, we need to be careful that we do not prioritize technology over pedagogy by referring to these apps as “formative assessment tools” when they are anything but.

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5 Ways Your Consensus Could Be Railroaded

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What is Consensus?

Consider the following continuum, and select the point at which you feel you have reached agreement on a proposal in your own school:

We have arrived at a consensus in our school when:

All of us can embrace the proposal.
All of us can endorse the proposal.
All of us can live with the proposal.
All of us can agree not to sabotage the proposal.
We have a majority – at least 51 percent – in support of the proposal.

If you have not done so already, pause for a brief minute and think about where your definition of consensus falls on the continuum.

America’s Best Pizza?

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cherry tomato, fresh cream, roasted corn, basil

I had first heard about Pizzeria Beddia when I was sitting at the bar at Pizzeria Stella, waiting for two friends to join me for dinner after I had made the four-hour trip to Philadelphia for an educational conference. At the time, I considered Stella to be the best pizza in Philadelphia, so I took advantage of the opportunity to talk to the bartender about just that, pizza. Despite that fact that they are in competition with one another (although that can be disputed based on entirely different locations and styles), the worker was quick to crown Beddia as the city’s top pizzeria.

Fast-forward a few months and a Bon Appétit article is written, which declares Beddia the best pizza in America.

Insubordination by Social Media

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Part 1: The Problem

You are an administrator. You are sitting in an administrative meeting and someone mentions how a certain teacher has spoken out against the school or district on Facebook. One of the attendees happens to be friends with the teacher on the social media platform, so the meeting comes to a halt while said administrator pops open her computer, searches for the post, connects her computer to the projector, and displays the defamation for everyone to see.

Breaking Barriers, Part 2 – Fixed Mindset

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More often than not, I believe that teacher professional development sessions are dead in the water even before they begin, and there are two main perpetrators to blame: confirmation bias and fixed mindset. In a previous post we explored confirmation bias. Now, let’s take a look at fixed mindset.

#ade2015 Reflection

By Ross Cooper 4 Comments

As I start to type this, I am on a plane from Miami to Atlanta (and then from Atlanta to Allentown, Pennsylvania), flying home from the Apple Distinguished Educator Summer Institute 2015.

Last night, as the conference was wrapping up, I was at the hotel pool and I started to reflect upon the experience with two of my fellow Apple Distinguished Educators (ADEs), Stace Carter and Ben Mountz. This conversation helped to jumpstart my thought process in regards to my conference takeaways.

Here are five points that encompass what I learned, in no particular order (and I think you will be surprised):

[Read more…] about #ade2015 Reflection

Breaking Barriers: Part 1 – Confirmation Bias

By Ross Cooper 5 Comments

More often than not, I believe that teacher professional development sessions are dead in the water even before they begin, and there are two main perpetrators to blame: confirmation bias and fixed mindset. In this post, let’s take a look at confirmation bias.

Because Of or In Spite Of?

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

You’re a district level administrator. There’s a great principal in one of your schools.

Is the principal great because of or in spite of you and the district’s culture?

You’re a district level administrator. There’s a great teacher in one of your schools.

Is the teacher great because of or in spite of you and the district’s culture?

You’re a building level administrator. There’s a great teacher in your school.

Is the teacher great because of or in spite of you and the school’s culture?

You’re a teacher, building level administrator, or district level administrator. You work with great students.

Are the students great because of or in spite of you and your classroom, school, or district’s culture?

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Traditional or Inexcusable?

By Ross Cooper 5 Comments

This will be a shorter post than normal, as I just have some thoughts/questions that I would like to get off my chest.

Often times in education we look at certain practices as what we call “traditional.” Here are a few examples of such practices that can be taken by administrators:

Good is the Enemy of Great: Part 2

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

In Part 1 of this post we took five quotes from the first half of Good to Great by Jim Collins and examined how they can relate to education. For this post, Part 2, we are doing the same with five quotes from the second half of the book.