Amir Taron Ayres
@amirtaron.bsky.social
mosaic musings from the kid that got kicked out of class
Educator friends, tap in! 👇🏾 @edutopia.org is hosting two big back to school @teacher2teacher.bsky.social Jam Sessions *at the same time.*🔥 🤔Ask what’s on your mind. 💪🏾Share what you’re planning this year. 👀Take a look at what others are doing. Links to both sessions are in the replies.
Teacher educators, Alex V. is updating their syllabus and would love your input. Lend a hand on T2T: www.edutopia.org/teacher2teac...
Teacher educators: what’s on your syllabus this fall?
This one’s for all of you who teach teachers! What’s your favorite reading on your syllabus this fall? Any classic articles that your students get excited about every year? Or new readings you’re goin...
edutopia.org
“Use the first week of school to get to know your students.” Great. But how? In this @edutopia.org podcast, @marcusluther.bsky.social provides some easy-lift, very specific ways to begin building the kind of culture every classroom can benefit from. www.edutopia.org/podcast/how-...
Podcast: How to Jumpstart Belonging in Your Classroom From Day One
The first week of school can set the tone for the entire year. Teacher Marcus Luther shares powerful yet simple routines that build trust, help students feel known, and strengthen the classroom commun...
edutopia.org
More slides don’t equal more rigor. @amirtaron.bsky.social explains how to challenge your students in a way that actually builds their skills. #ITeachHistory #EduSky
Fewer Tasks but More Rigor
Adding more steps to a social studies project doesn’t necessarily make it more rigorous—there are better ways to appropriately challenge students.
edutopia.org
"When I first started teaching, I would create Sisyphean projects for my kids to work on for days at a time." So appreciate this piece for naming how the quantity and cumbersome-ness of what we assign students often is perceived as "rigorous" when, in fact, there is a much, much better way.
Amir Taron Ayres@amirtaron.bsky.social · 4w agoAs a new teacher, I often created cumbersome class projects. I felt like the more tasks kids had to complete, the more I was challenging them. 💪🏾 However, my strategy was flawed. 👀 Here is my latest with @edutopia.org on a better way to create rigorous projects. www.edutopia.org/article/incr...
As a new teacher, I often created cumbersome class projects. I felt like the more tasks kids had to complete, the more I was challenging them. 💪🏾 However, my strategy was flawed. 👀 Here is my latest with @edutopia.org on a better way to create rigorous projects. www.edutopia.org/article/incr...
Fewer Tasks but More Rigor
Adding more steps to a social studies project doesn’t necessarily make it more rigorous—there are better ways to appropriately challenge students.
edutopia.org
I’m excited about presenting at @isteofficial.bsky.social next week. Here’s the article I wrote for @edutopia.org last year that inspired my session. This piece targets some easy ways to shift AI use from mere task delegation to effective thought partnering. www.edutopia.org/article/ai-t...
Using AI as a Thought Partner, Not a Shortcut
Engaging in a back-and-forth with AI programs to refine the prompt and the output can help educators generate high-quality learning materials.
edutopia.org
“Purposeful circulation allows us to gather the most useful, high-leverage data we can to help all students achieve the goals of the lesson,” @amirtaron.bsky.social writes. Here’s what that looks like. 👇 #EduSky
What Purposefully Circulating Through the Classroom Looks Like
Close observation during tasks helps teachers correct misunderstandings and celebrate when students are getting things right.
edutopia.org
Veteran teacher and instructional coach @amirtaron.bsky.social gives advice about how to strategically move around the room—like a chessboard! ♟️ #EduSky
What Purposefully Circulating Through the Classroom Looks Like
Close observation during tasks helps teachers correct misunderstandings and celebrate when students are getting things right.
edutopia.org
What happens after the ‘I do’ and the ‘We do’? What do *you* do? My latest with @edutopia.org is all about purposefully moving through the classroom when students are released to think and work though a task. www.edutopia.org/article/movi...
What Purposefully Circulating Through the Classroom Looks Like
Close observation during tasks helps teachers correct misunderstandings and celebrate when students are getting things right.
edutopia.org
It’s that time of the school year again. 💆🏾 Vacancies. 📃 Resumes. 👩🏾💼 Interviews. Are you being intentional and strategic about recruiting a diverse team of teachers to fill your vacancies? I wrote this @edutopia.org article to share how I’ve done it. www.edutopia.org/article/recr...
5 Ways to Recruit a Diverse Team of Teachers
By thinking strategically about the interview process, school administrators can attract a diverse pool of strong candidates.
edutopia.org
“Mannnnnnn, I can’t wait to do some worksheets today!” said no child ever. Worksheets can feel like busywork, asking students for compliance instead of demonstration of learning. So how can you transform the ready-made worksheet into an engaging & vibrant lesson? @amirtaron.bsky.social explains. ⬇️
Turning a Boring Worksheet Into an Engaging Lesson
A worksheet is like off-the-rack formal wear—it might be OK, but it needs a little tailoring to really fit your students and your learning objective.
edutopia.org
Worksheets are not inherently bad. But in order to effectively engage kids, these materials need tailoring—strategy, structure, and facilitated interaction. I wrote this for @edutopia.org to share how I’ve learned to make boring worksheets pop in the classroom. www.edutopia.org/article/maki...
Turning a Boring Worksheet Into an Engaging Lesson
A worksheet is like off-the-rack formal wear—it might be OK, but it needs a little tailoring to really fit your students and your learning objective.
edutopia.org
First year teachers: The struggle not to just put on a video for the whole class is real. Here’s what @amirtaron.bsky.social suggests instead. 📺 #EduSky
An Effective Strategy for Teaching With Videos
Rather than showing long videos, teachers should design lessons that use clips as resources to spur class discussion.
edutopia.org
Instructional supervisor and Edutopia community facilitator @amirtaron.bsky.social explains how to integrate videos into your classroom *and* keep students engaged. 📺 #EduSky
An Effective Strategy for Teaching With Videos
Rather than showing long videos, teachers should design lessons that use clips as resources to spur class discussion.
edutopia.org
👨🏾🏫📽️ Teaching effectively with video requires far more than simply pressing play. I wrote this piece for @edutopia.org to share how I do it. 📼📺 Thank you for reading and sharing. 🙏🏾 www.edutopia.org/article/usin...
An Effective Strategy for Teaching With Videos
Rather than showing long videos, teachers should design lessons that use clips as resources to spur class discussion.
edutopia.org
“The best classroom management affirms a committed relationship with intellectual engagement,” writes @amirtaron.bsky.social. Here’s the strategies he uses to set expectations and engage students. 🌟 #ClassroomManagement #EduSky
Student Engagement as an Aspect of Classroom Management
An educator whose class rules once ‘looked like the Ten Commandments’ has found that fostering intellectual engagement is much more effective for maintaining order.
edutopia.org
Classroom management is all about intellectual engagement, says veteran teacher and Edutopia community facilitator @amirtaron.bsky.social. Here’s how he norms learning activities as a way to set expectations for his classroom. 💫 #ClassroomManagement #EduSky
Student Engagement as an Aspect of Classroom Management
An educator whose class rules once ‘looked like the Ten Commandments’ has found that fostering intellectual engagement is much more effective for maintaining order.
edutopia.org
Effective classroom management is not just about rules and behavior. Check out my latest with @Edutopia.org on stirring intellectual engagement into the management mix by norming learning structures.👇🏾👇🏾 Thank you always for reading and sharing. 🙏🏾 www.edutopia.org/article/stud...
Thoughts on the term "warm demander"? I have quite a few, which is why I am really excited to be a part of this conversation with @edutopia.org. Quick Sunday morning question: 👍 or 👎 on that term?
Ready to talk about the warm demander approach to classroom management? Jump into our January Jam Session: edut.to/3Zc6sb2 Join us, @marcusluther.bsky.social, @amirtaron.bsky.social, @jessicacabeen.bsky.social, and @alterishea.bsky.social for tips, resources, and advice you can use right away!
I’m co-facilitating an @edutopia.org Jam Session this week with @alterishea.bsky.social. If you or anyone you know faces challenges with classroom management or if you are skilled as a Warm Demander, jump on the space and get active with us. #EduSky www.edutopia.org/ask-and-answ...
January 2026 Jam Session: The Warm Demander Approach to Classroom Management
Here’s how to join the chat: Drop your questions, share a challenge you’re facing, or post a strategy about balancing high expectations with deep care—the heart of the warm demander approach. Welcome!...
edutopia.org
Time is currency. Every school leader should internalize this concept as a core value.
This is a must read for school leaders. “Want real change in schools? Start by subtracting things.” www.ascd.org/el/articles/...
The Power of Doing Less in Schools
Want real change in schools? Start by subtracting things.
ascd.org
“When the system isn’t working, and the people in the system are exhausted and overwhelmed, you can’t fix those problems by adding more things to the system and making it more complicated,” professor Justin Reich wrote for ASCD. Here’s how schools can subtract instead. #SchoolLeaders #EduSky
Why Schools Should Stop Adding and Adopt a ‘Subtraction Mindset’
When trying to solve problems, we rarely think of what to take away. As schools face new crises, is subtraction the secret weapon to getting them back on track?
edutopia.org
Want your students to push themselves in the classroom? Veteran educator @amirtaron.bsky.social says the answer is to start with how the material connects to their lives. 🖇️ #EduSky
Looking to Increase the Level of Rigor? Start With Relevance
Making sure students see the connection between the material and their own lives cultivates curiosity and interest, allowing a deeper understanding of content.
edut.to
“I use relevance to cultivate curiosity and interest so we can then dive deeply into the material. In other words, relevance opens the door and ushers student thought into the realm of rigor.” 🚪 Here’s how that plays out in @amirtaron.bsky.social’s classroom: #EduSky
Looking to Increase the Level of Rigor? Start With Relevance
Making sure students see the connection between the material and their own lives cultivates curiosity and interest, allowing a deeper understanding of content.
edut.to
It pains me that the same system that benefits one population simultaneously and often severely cripples another. In affluent schools an IEP creates a competitive edge. In the lowest achieving schools, an IEP can lead to 13 years of basic skills and disproportionate discipline.
Ellen@acompleunknown.bsky.social · 8mo ago“You hear ‘students with disabilities’ and it’s not kids in wheelchairs. It’s just not. It’s rich kids getting extra time on tests.” Even as poor students with disabilities still struggle to get necessary provisions elite universities have entered an age of accommodation apple.news/AoD8JmNwuQnG...
Relevance opens the door for rigor. When students can relate, we can push them further. Rigor without relevance is boring…at best. Thank you, @edutopia.org for giving me space to write about this. #EduSky #TeacherEducation www.edutopia.org/article/crea...
Looking to Increase the Level of Rigor? Start With Relevance
Making sure students see the connection between the material and their own lives cultivates curiosity and interest, allowing a deeper understanding of content.
edutopia.org
