Saturday hyperfixation turned into making an entire website print store for my photography. ADHD is lovely sometimes. tyler-rablin-photography.square.site

AI struggles to make creative leaps. Large language models are trained on data from the past. Original thinking involves recognizing novel patterns in the future. Machines converge; minds diverge. Long live human ingenuity.

Things I learned about middle school today: 1) Bald jokes work super well. 2) Be wary of making too many bald jokes or you will have to agree to bedazzling your bald head if a certain number of students get 4.0s.

To be honest, really didn't expect to have remembered to take attendance every period of my first week teaching middle school, but here we are.

There is a very different version of me that encourages students to write drafts, revise, get feedback, proofread, and then publish… …and then the version of me that hammers out a 1600-word blog post in 30 minutes that I don’t even glance at again before hitting publish and walking away. Oops.

My favorite "engagement strategies": 1. Sitting with a struggling student and asking if they're doing okay. 2. Showing a student where they are being successful. 3. Giving a positive note to a student to let them know I see them. When did engagement get translated into flashy fun? 1/

Every year that I'm teaching, I give my students a survey about grades. I ask... 1. Do grades help you learn? Why or why not? 2. How do grades make you feel? 3. What is one thing you wish you could tell teachers about grades? Brace yourself for the responses ⬇️ 1/

A few years ago I developed what is still my favorite and most effective assessment design yet. It incorporates my work with learning progressions with some concepts in cognitive load and research around formative assessment. Now, my goal is to use it better. www.tylerrablin.com/blog/one-ass...

One Assessment, an Ongoing Experience — Tyler Rablin Consulting

I want to clarify a few things as I begin: 1) It is the second day of school and my brain is a combination of spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and weird middle school slang that doesn’t make sense to me. ...

tylerrablin.com

Being told by middle schoolers that you “seem like the type of person who knows how to juggle” really raises a lot of questions. What another goofy day. They also pulled off a focused station rotation on day two, so I will take the wins where I can.

Tired of shuffling desks around every time you change the mode of learning from whole-class instruction to groups or solo work? Educator @mrrablin.bsky.social has found a solution—and it involves caves⚒️, campfires🔥, and watering holes🌴.

First day in middle school, and students have already told me: A) Their favorite color is thunder. B) Their favorite snack is “hamster” (they don’t own a hamster…very confused) C) A dog-hot is when you put the bun on the inside. And, like, I think I’ve found my new favorite grade band.

This first day definitely feels quite a bit different as I head into the classroom after a few years away, but I’m so excited!

First day with students tomorrow. If they walk out of the room thinking… 1. I’m going to have to actively learn in that classroom 2. That teacher has my back …then the right foundation is set for the class. That’s the goal. All the love and best wishes to my fellow educators.

This blog has been pretty quiet the past few years (who wants to hear from someone outside the classroom?), but as I head back into the classroom for the first time in three years tomorrow, here's what I'm choosing to focus on as my priorities. www.tylerrablin.com/blog/the-night-before

Want students to think deeply when discussing class norms, and not just repeat ideas from other classes? 💭 Try asking them, “What are some of the worst possible ways we could function as a class together this year?” It works for @mrrablin.bsky.social! #EduSky

Kicking Your Beginning-of-Year Activities Up a Notch

A teacher shares variations on covering the syllabus, creating class norms, and starting to build a community that he designed to boost student engagement from day one.

edutopia.org

@edutopia.org does a lot of things well, but I think nailing an animated version of me has to go up to the top of my list. Quite the surprise for me. Here's a short video that details how I arrange my classroom: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvFX...

Rethinking Classroom Seating With Caves, Campfires, and Watering Holes

YouTube video by Edutopia

youtube.com

I love these desk decals and am redoing my desk numbers because of them. I’ve missed this space (and being inspired by @marcusluther.bsky.social) Ready to get back at it.

Marcus Luther@marcusluther.bsky.social · last wk.

It's that time! A little time prepping for the classroom this afternoon—starting to get very excited for this year. 🐙

One of my goals the first few days is to show my students a bunch of ways mistakes have helped me grow and demonstrate to them how my grading approach will allow them to move on from mistakes. Only once we’ve really covered that will I explain why I don’t want them to use AI in my class.

Made it two whole days before I needed to get outside again. A couple shots from the last few nights out in eastern WA.

As someone returning to the classroom after (a) a full year out in the woods and (b) two years at a district level before that, this back-to-school starter pack from @edutopia.org has been so helpful for me as a refresher and to get some new ideas. www.edutopia.org/package/back...

Back-to-School Starter Pack

A roundup of Edutopia favorites to help you kick off the school year strong, with ideas for classroom design, family communication, community-building, routines and norms, and classroom management.

edutopia.org

When educator @mrrablin.bsky.social wondered what next year's teacher would learn by getting his grade book, he started rethinking his grading practices entirely. Want to learn more about his new grading approach? Read more: https://edut.to/461mbgE

It's been 428 days since my wife and I started our leave of absence, and on Monday I return to work to get ready for another year in my classroom. Naturally, I had to get up into the mountains for one last round of sleeping under the stars.

I think the biggest shift from how I prepared for a new year as a new versus veteran teacher is that as a new teacher I jumped into designing activities and lessons, but as a veteran teacher all I've done so far is design learning progressions, analyze assessments, and curate learning resources.

Well, set foot inside my own classroom for the first time in three years today. Excited to be headed back! Also, for everyone who doesn't believe my seating chart faces outward (and for everyone who didn't believe it would fit), here you go. Now I need to find some tables...

What’s your take on eliminating zeros from the grade book? In this episode of School of Practice, @mrrablin.bsky.social explores the tradeoffs of a no-zeros grading policy—and shares strategies for building motivation and accountability! Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/4uwrBe6

“The messaging that educators are often subjected to around intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is a false dichotomy,” @mrrablin.bsky.social writes. Here’s how *and* why to leverage extrinsic motivation at certain points in the learning process. ⭐ #EduSky

Why Your Students Need (Some) Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation gets a bad rap, but middle and high school teachers can use it judiciously early in an activity to encourage students to get started.

edutopia.org

Extrinsic motivation gets a bad rap, but middle and high school teachers can use it judiciously early in an activity to encourage students to get started. @mrrablin.bsky.social explains how. 👇 #EduSky

Why Your Students Need (Some) Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation gets a bad rap, but middle and high school teachers can use it judiciously early in an activity to encourage students to get started.

edutopia.org

Admittedly, this is a bit of a curveball. The guy who is always raging against grades wrote a piece about why we need extrinsic motivators. Hear me out... www.edutopia.org/article/how-...

Why Your Students Need (Some) Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation gets a bad rap, but middle and high school teachers can use it judiciously early in an activity to encourage students to get started.

edutopia.org

The best ADHD advice is not "here's a hack so you can do things like a neurotypical." It's "here's how to stop being so hard on yourself for not being neurotypical." I'm never going to have perfect habits and routines, but I am going to be much softer with myself.

This assessment design was a game-changer for learning in my classroom. Notice... 🧠 The reflection it facilitates 📊 The clarity it provides about learning 📦 The segmentation to support growing learners docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Mastery Check Assessment - Character Development

Mastery Check Purpose: A mastery check helps you pinpoint what you already know and what you need to focus on learning and practicing next. Learning Focus: I can analyze how a character’s developmen...

docs.google.com