The Science of Learning |
20252026
Four years ago, Country Day partnered with the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL) at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland. We set an ambitious goal: for 100% of our faculty, from early childhood through the upper school, to be immersed in the latest research in education, psychology, and neuroscience. By grounding our instruction in this science, we aim to better support our diverse population of learners. This work has fostered a sense of collective efficacy among our faculty, and created a shared language to discuss teaching and learning. At Country Day, we prioritize time each week for professional growth. We now approach our work through three distinct lenses: T H E P O R T R A I T O F A G R A D U AT E :
Highlighting the characteristics we hope to instill in students as they grow with us. THE BELONGING BRAID:
Reminding us that, to succeed, students must feel seen as both individuals and learners. THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING:
Our partner's Science of Learning tools and the latest educational research to guide our lesson design. Currently, our teachers are reflecting on these strategies using the prompt: “I used to think…, now I think…” In the following articles, several educators share their classroom experiences, demonstrating how these researchbased strategies are positively impacting our students. For example, one educator highlights how introducing multiplication charts as a scaffold has reduced cognitive load, fostered academic belonging, and shifted the focus from rote memorization to deeper learning, empowering students to approach complex problems with confidence. We invite you to explore these stories and see how our commitment to research-based teaching is driving academic success, nurturing a sense of belonging, and shaping the future of education at Country Day.
K AT E T U R N B U L L , DIRECTOR OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
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Talking at Me Versus Teaching to Me:
Why multimodal sensory teaching is superior to unimodal lectures BY JASON HUBERT 5TH GR ADE HUMANITIES TE ACHER
“Hej klass! idag ska vi lära oss om blommor.” Those were the words the speaker opened up her keynote with. “Am I in the right room?” I wondered. “Det finns fyrahundratusen typer av blommande växtarter runt om i världen.” She continued to spout gibberish at us. I pulled out my map. I was on the second floor of the Downtown Hilton in Austin, Texas. It was day two of South by Southwest EDU, a branchof the popular yearly music, film, and innovation festival. It brings together leaders in education,
technology, and other related fields to discuss and explore innovative ideas and solutions for creating better learning experiences. This was supposed to be a lecture on “Multimodal Learning: What Science Says,” by Dr. Ester de Jong. Nowhere did it mention anything about the lecture not being in English. She continued speaking what may as well have been Martian for about ten minutes before abruptly stopping and exiting the stage. Things continued to get weirder when Dr. de Jong immediately turned around
• Swedish Mature Flower Diagram by C T Johansson
and walked right back on stage. This time, however, she had a different demeanor. She was more animated and less monotone. I still couldn’t understand a word she was saying, but I was starting to piece together what the lesson was about. She brought out a bouquet of flowers and passed them around. She showed us a video. She flipped through a slideshow. She would call on us and have us respond. By the end, I had gathered that this was a lesson on flowers and their different types and parts. I had actually learned some things I hadn’t known, despite not understanding a single word of her language. Although ostensibly a lesson on flowers, it was really about much more. It was a scathing indictment of the traditional lecture. It demonstrated how much more effective multimodal learning could be compared to unimodal lectures. So effective, in fact, that it transcended language. Educators must move away from limiting their teaching to fit specific learning preferences and instead, incorporate a multimodal approach to engage learners through a mix of visual, auditory, reading, writing, and kinesthetic cues. This broad approach has been shown to enhance learning outcomes as it encourages students to tap into more avenues for learning at the same time. According to the Science of Learning Field Guide, when designing lessons, teachers should “combine words and images...memories encoded through both verbal and visual paths are significantly stronger.” This overlaps perfectly with de Jong’s lesson. One modality is not enough, especially in this age of short attention spans and overstimulation. This point is backed up extensively by science and studies. It was long thought that students each had a specific learning
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THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING
style that teachers were meant to cater to. This could be visual, auditory, written, or kinesthetic. Current research shows that we should be using all of the above for every student. Learners who believe that they can only learn through that one specific style could end up stuck in a mindset believing that intelligence is fixed and viewing learning challenges as insurmountable tasks that they are “not built for.” This limits their potential for learning and hinders their growth. As a result, I have tried to bring these lessons into my own classroom. An average lesson may begin with me sharing a PowerPoint. Then, we transition to a short video on the topic. Next, we might read something about it together as a class. Finally, students will have an independent activity to complete. Where the topic allows, I will play a game or simulate what we are learning. As a rule of thumb, I try not to spend more than 20 minutes in a given medium. Latest studies show the average 5th grade attention span is only about 25 minutes, which is perfect because mine isn’t much longer. This has resulted in a much higher level of attention and engagement in my classroom. Each time I change mediums, it is like their attention span resets. Thanks to this research, I have seen not only academic improvements but also lower incidents of behavioral issues. More focus and less boredom lead to a
• Multimodal Learning by Truelearn.com
decrease in off-topic action.
Educators must get
Multimodal instruction is something that all students could benefit from teachers implementing. Students need teachers creating experiences that will keep them engaged and learning. By combining words with movement, images, videos, activities and handson experiences, we give students the ability to connect more deeply with lessons. If Dr. de Jong can teach a ballroom full of confused teachers about flowers without speaking a single word of English, imagine what we can achieve when our students actually understand what we're saying! A strong lesson should not just be heard, it should be seen, felt and experienced.
away from limiting their teaching to fit specific learning preferences and instead, incorporate a multimodal approach to engage learners through a mix of visual, auditory, reading, writing, and kinesthetic cues.
REFERENCES Armstrong, S. J., Peterson, E., & Reynor, S. (2011). Understanding and defining cognitive style and learning style: A Delphi study in the context of educational psychology. Educational Studies, January. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254249511_Understanding_and_defining_ cognitive_style_and_learning_style_A_Delphi_study_in_the_context_of_educational_psychology/link/ 544f694a0cf2bca5ce90f4c1/download?_ tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIn19 de Jong, E. (Presenter). (2025, March). Multimodal Learning: What Science Says. Speech presented at SXSWEDU, Austin, TX, United States. Hanley, P., & Thompson, R. (2021). ‘Generic pedagogy is not enough’: Teacher educators and subject-specialist pedagogy in the further education and skills sector in england. Teaching and Teacher Education, 98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103233 Krätzig, G. P., & Arbuthnott, K. D. (2006). Perceptual learning style and learning proficiency: A test of the hypothesis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(1), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.98.1.238 Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning Styles: concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, December. https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/233600402_Learning_Styles_Concepts_and_Evidence Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The Myth of Learning Styles. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 42(5), 32–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2010.503139
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What’s the Point?
Reflections on Grading and Motivation
is recommended by Feldman as more equitable than optional resubmissions. 3.
Using a 0-100 scale, two-thirds of the available points are skewed toward failure. Switching to a 0-4 or 1-5 scale, the numbers are equally weighted. The 0-4 system is used in GPA calculations, and the 1-5 system is used in AP scoring, so students have a good understanding of them. I used a 1-5 scale in an honors art class with reasonable success. One challenge is that I still had to convert scores to a 0-100 scale because of how our gradebooks are set up. I created a chart that translates 1-5 scores to the letter grades I think they should earn, with 5 translating to an A, 4 a B, etc. This has worked for the most part, but it does create extra steps that ultimately lead me back to the 0-100 scale.
BY PA M E L A S K E H A N MIDDLE & UPPER SCHOOL ARTS TE ACHER , A R T S D E PA R T M E N T C H A I R
Grades are one of the most important parts of the academic experience, directly impacting short- and long-term student outcomes, such as class placement, graduation, awards, extracurriculars, and scholarships (Feldman, 2019). They are also one of the most inconsistent aspects of education, with a wide array of interpretations of what and how to evaluate. Concerns of grade inflation have risen to the forefront of academic discourse in recent decades. In his book Grading for Equity, Feldman explains that traditional grading was designed to serve the Industrial Revolution rather than the child, to sort children into vocational tracks (2019). Despite extensive progress in other domains of education in the past century, many traditional grading practices reign supreme. I saw Joe Feldman speak in 2019 and was captivated by his plea to educators to release old habits and usher in modern alternatives. In my middle and upper art classes, I have adopted several of his recommendations to make my gradebook more accurate and equitable. This process connects with many Science of Learning tenets, a framework used at Country Day to promote best teaching and learning practices, such as providing feedback that works and building mindsets that promote resilience. I attended a week-long Grading for Equity workshop in the summer of 2024, delving into a reflection of the following ten recommended practices:
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1.
N O PA R T I C I PAT I O N GRADES.
Soft skills, though important, are difficult to measure and prone to bias. As an alternative, I use conversations with middle and upper school art students and interims to communicate participation issues, working to identify if and how they are impacting the work. For example, I might say, “If you stayed on task more this week, your drawing might have more developed values.” This practice also forces me to reflect on whether the participation issues were affecting the work. Sometimes a student can be disruptive and offtask but still accomplish the work I asked them to do. In this case, I handle it as a behavioral issue rather than an academic one. 2.
4.
USE RUBRICS WITH C L E A R LY I D E N T I F I E D S TA N DA R D S .
I already used these for many years, but I have worked to make them clearer, more transparent, and easier to understand. My next step is to more explicitly teach students to use and revisit them. Clarifying and redefining goals and standards is a big-picture goal that requires time and reflection. In order to successfully implement all these strategies, I’ll have to look carefully at my assignments and make sure they are a clear means to an end rather than busy work.
ALLOW RESUBMISSIONS.
I began offering resubmissions in 2022 with success. Students would say things like, “I’ll just get this looking good enough for the critique, then I’ll work more on it later to get the detail I want.” That sentiment reflects the growth mindset I was looking to instill, but students were able to come to the conclusion on their own with the safety net of resubmissions. Most students took advantage of the opportunity. A few did not, so I may experiment with structuring mandatory resubmissions in the future, which
USE A 1-5 SCALE.
5.
N O E X T R A C R E D IT.
I tried it once, and it confirmed my skepticism. Offering extra credit completely shifted my relationship with the students to a game of bargaining over things happening
THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING
outside the classroom rather than discussing their performance in the course. I felt empowered to give it up for good. When students ask for extra credit, I now direct them to resubmissions. 6.
USE CHECKLISTS.
I provided students with checklists to track their progress over this past year. Students of all ages and backgrounds found it to be a useful tool that kept them on task and helped them meet expectations. I would like to do this more often, perhaps as a way to get students to refer to the rubric more consistently. 7.
• Man and Machine by Irene Rice Pereira, 1936
but some students continue to struggle with chronically missing work. Rablin (2025) recommends a late-work contract with consequences that don’t impact grades, such as a mandatory study hall or lost privileges.
USE MEDIAN OR MODE OVER MEAN.
Mode and median are useful in evaluating a set of data, yet average dominates teacher software. Teachers should be empowered to use professional judgment and valid figures, such as median or mode, to assign an accurate grade that represents their progress. 8.
R E M OV E O R L I M I T L AT E P E N A LT I E S .
A common practice is dropping scores by a letter grade a day, which I have used in the past. The consequences were dire for a few and did not motivate them to improve. For the rest, it was a lot of clerical work for me that sometimes resulted in a point or two off and some heated debate. I experimented briefly with eliminating late penalties, but I struggled with students missing critiques and allowing work to snowball. I now work with a limited late penalty that builds up gradually over time,
9.
FAVO R R E C E N T G R A D E S .
In simple terms, Feldman argues that a student who begins the year as a C student but ends as an A student should receive the same score as a student who maintains an A all year long. The result is more important than the journey. In my classroom, students receive a portfolio evaluation at the end of each quarter, and new grades replace the old. An A is within reach for anyone, no matter where they started the year. 10. USE PROFESSIONAL J U D G M E N T, R AT H E R T H A N G R A D E B O O K S O F T WA R E , TO DETERMINE AN AC C U R AT E G R A D E .
Guskey (2013) cautions that gradebook software is often created
by people in tech rather than people in education. The software is designed to improve efficiency, but it often leads to confusing results. Determining weights and percentages can become a game of tweaking numbers to create the desired result. The software always defers to averages, even though the median and mode might more accurately describe the data. While software can be a useful tool, it does not have a degree in education or years of experience. The professional judgment of the teacher has the right to override the software and determine a number that makes sense. Grading is an instrumental part of the modern educational experience. Report cards can elicit substantial resistance from families, and their fears are not unfounded. Studying equitable practices, reflecting on lived experience, and modifying over time have been essential to my teaching practice, as has giving grace to myself and others as we work to be better, clearer, and fairer each year.
REFERENCES Feldman, J. (2019). Grading for equity: what it is, why it matters, and how it can transform schools and classrooms. Corwin, a SAGE Company. Guskey, T.R. (2013). The case against percentage grades. Educational Leadership, 71 (1), 68-72. Rablin, T. (n.d.). Getting Rid of Zeros Won't Fix the Grade Book. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/problem-50-percent-minimumgrade?utm_content=linkpos1&utm_campaign=weekly-2025-04-02&utm_medium=email&utm_source=edu-newsletter
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We Are Here to Love Them
A case for strong interpersonal relationships with students in the Upper Elementary World Language Classroom BY MARIE HÉBERT LOWER SCHOOL FRENCH TE ACHER & WO R L D L A N G UAG E S D E PA R T M E N T C H A I R
Je ne suis pas là pour les aimer. I am not here to love them. In my first year teaching French in a Kindergarten class, these words were uttered to me in an acidic and condescending tone by my co-teacher. Older than me, with more years of experience, she had what I thought were high expectations for a group of five-year-olds whose native tongue was English. They were immersed in a new language eight hours a day, most of them for the first time. They cried a lot because they were young, I thought. A part of me wanted to know about them—about their families, their dreams, their dogs and their cats and their favorite cereals, what time they woke up, and the toys they slept with, what scared them at night, and what made them feel better if they fell and got hurt. My co-teacher… not so much. Don’t get me wrong; she was an excellent teacher; she had all her lessons planned and demanded that these children recite lessons and learn verbs, math, science concepts, accents, and pronouns. These kids learned French and learned it very well. The problem was… they were scared of her, of her screaming and her mean tone. They were terrified of the idea of school
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because she “was” school. The socialemotional learning was nonexistent, and the discipline was punitive. The truth is, I was scared of her, too. When I questioned her methods one day, I got this answer: I am not here to love them. This didn’t align with my inner belief system, with “my gut.” To me, teaching was about instruction first and foremost, but wasn’t there something else? Sixteen years later, I still found myself thinking about this statement often. Was I wrong to want to know my students for the people they were? Would students learn less if I loved them? Would I be a less effective French teacher if I didn’t establish connections with families, if I focused less on content and more on non-academics? How much time should I spend fostering a culture of love and compassion as opposed to “real teaching”? What even was “real teaching” in the end? The paradigm kept me up. I didn’t want to be a friend to my students, but I still wanted to be friendly. Could this be done well? I worked at various schools over the following years and came back to this dilemma as I navigated various discipline systems, which did not encompass any social-emotional learning. At my last
place of employment eleven years ago, I even considered stepping away from education because I felt like teaching did not allow me to get to know children the way I had hoped for. Then, a few years ago, Metairie Park Country Day embarked on a robust and ambitious professional development journey: to train all of its teachers in the Science of Learning, which is centered around the most advanced ways to teach based on current brain research. As a whole, we read books, we played games, we listened to lectures and students’ stories, we looked at data, and we highlighted how to maximize our instructional time to be better teachers to our student population. Led by the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Maryland, we collectively read a book and suggested articles to support the first part of our professional journey. Collective efficacy, they said, would be a key to better student learning. I approached the training cautiously optimistic. One of the first articles I read during that time was the Top Principles from Psychology for PreK Teaching and Learning. The article highlighted twenty simple guidelines based on current research and data from a wide range of fields, including educational research and educational psychology. The question the authors asked was simple: “How do students think and learn?” It was straightforward and easy to read. When I came across Principle 14, I was slightly surprised. Titled “Interpersonal relationships and communication are critical to both the teaching–learning process and the social-emotional development of students,” it highlighted that a classroom is a microcosm of life, complete with its own norms, positive atmosphere, and standards set forth by the teacher. The following principle went further and argued that “using emotional
THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING
vocabulary” could set students up for success. I paused. Naming emotions— being happy, sad, tired, overwhelmed is something I did a lot with younger grades, but not so much with 5th grade. Teaching in French often meant that there needed to be a constant renegotiation of lesson versus social skills and executive functioning. I kept coming back to my dilemma - loving students equaled losing precious instructional time. Yet, this article clearly stated that the time spent building relationships led to better learning. That year, equipped with the validation that students would learn better if I built these relationships, I felt ready to take the leap of intentionally loving my students, specifically the 5th graders, who can sometimes act a bit “too cool for school.” The CTTL gave us access to their newsletters, and one article supported having pets in the classroom, something I always wanted. I brought in my two pet rats and used them to build empathy skills, and let students have access to them. I spent a large portion of my class’s opening time in French to let students explain how they felt. If they slipped in English, I focused on the relationship-building gain. I let students out of class for a snack if they had a long commute before school. I gave unlimited hugs and started an “open door” policy, called “portes ouvertes”: If my door is left propped open, anyone is welcome to discuss anything as long as they are allowed by their homeroom teachers. Although most students initially only came by to say hi to the rats, some started coming to tell me about some parts of their lives during recess. This new way of seeing my classes was aligned with my
beliefs, and I was able to include parts of student lives in my lessons, making them more connected to the content I was teaching… and increasing their retention as they created emotional connections to the lessons. Students increasingly came to find me during “portes ouvertes” to take pictures with French-themed clothes, talk about their birthday parties, their friendships, athletic prowess, or even ideas for lessons. This year will be my third year fully embracing loving my students, and there
is no looking back. I am now convinced that I am, indeed, here to love them because without it, there is no genuine learning. I am not a friend, but I am friendly and supportive. I often reread this article to remind myself that I am here to embrace all the emotions my students and colleagues bring to school, as humans coming to learn together in a constantly evolving institution. And in the back of my room, there is a heartshaped sign which reminds all of us to choose love, always.
REFERENCES Salmon, A. K. (2023). Love and Language: Peace Building in the Foreign Language Classroom. Research on Socio-Cultural and Linguistic Perspectives on Language and Literacy Development. Top 20 principles from psychology for preK–12 teaching and learning. (2015). American Psychological Association, Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education. http:// www.apa.org/ed/schools/cpse/top-twenty-principles.pdf
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Charting a Course Toward Belonging B Y R E B E C C A C O AT N E Y 6 T H G R A D E M AT H T E A C H E R
“I’m bad at math.” “I’m no good with numbers.” “I’m just not a math person.” Claims like these are common among young people and adults alike. Somewhere along the line in early education, many students decide they are not mathematicians; culturally, we allow it. But why? Teachers would never allow a child to claim, “I just don’t read.” There are so many resources for students who struggle with language, but math support lags behind. I noticed these discrepancies in the earliest days of my teaching career, but only recently began to feel empowered to use my own teaching as a means to address this gap. For years, I did not allow students to use a multiplication chart in my middle school math classroom. I had seen research that fact fluency is a predictor of future math success (Fuchs et al., 2006). I didn’t want to limit my students’ math potential by creating a crutch they would never outgrow. I told students they simply had to know their facts, and would offer suggestions for practice resources if they were struggling. Recently, however, my school has begun focusing our faculty’s professional development on the Science of Learning as a lens for teaching and learning. As my understanding of the learning process has evolved, so has my teaching practice. The concepts of cognitive load and working memory have been the biggest catalysts for change in my classroom. I’ve come to recognize that students
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struggling with fact fluency aren’t necessarily less capable in math: they are cognitively overloaded. In their 2002 article Phonological Loop and Central Executive Processes in Mental Addition and Multiplication, Seitz and SchumannHengsteler highlight the impact of working memory on math work. They describe the systems that impact working memory, and that these systems are overloaded when students must recall or derive facts. This, in turn, lowers their capacity to solve more complex, multistep problems. In other words, retrieving math facts can create a mental traffic jam for some students. Allocating working memory to fact recall or derivation ultimately also hinders a child’s ability to recognize patterns, make connections, and explain their thinking. Armed with this knowledge, I began to critically observe students with various levels of fact fluency. Did those who struggled with recall become better students by having to do more active mental work? Of course not. Instead, they became discouraged, got overwhelmed, and felt out of place in the math classroom. I used my new knowledge to “zoom out” and ask myself some hard questions, big and small. In a very broad sense, what do I want for my students? Of course, teaching content is important, but critical thinking, confidence, and self-efficacy are arguably bigger goals…which led me to wonder, Why do I require students to have every
fact memorized if the ultimate goal is so much bigger? I began to realize it was time to change my practice. One student in particular solidified my decision to allow the use of multiplication charts. She was the type of student who I knew could handle the concepts, but struggled with multiplication facts. Coupled with anxiety and a low frustration tolerance, she often became overwhelmed when things felt new and challenging. I could tell from her verbal participation that she truly understood the concepts, for example, how percentages apply in real-life situations like tax and tip. But when it came time to crunch the numbers, fluency got in her way. I began to offer this student a multiplication chart as a simple support. The results were impressive: not only did her written assessment scores improve, but her whole attitude toward math work brightened. Now, I offer multiplication charts to any and every student. At first introduction, I frame it as a temporary scaffold. I tell students, “The charts are there to help you focus on the bigger picture. Use one when you need to. Don’t let the small stuff get in the way of big understanding.” Now, instead of getting tangled up in the basics or feeling so disheartened that they don’t even try, most students are more open to attempting complex multi-step problems. This scaffold also allows an opportunity for metacognition. While the printed charts are available at any time in the classroom, students decide when and if they need one. Over time, many students become more fluent because of the chart: as they use the resource strategically, confidence grows, and they rely on it less. Perhaps the most important outcome has been the impact on academic belonging. For students who arrive in my classroom feeling “bad at math,” the chart offers an unspoken message: You can do this.
THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING
You’re not expected to know everything already; you just have to do your best. Instead of reinforcing a fixed mindset, the chart normalizes struggle as part of learning and emphasizes the importance of self-advocating and seeking out resources for support. Students who might otherwise disengage become more willing to try, take risks, and persist through challenging tasks. Make no mistake, I value mathematical fact fluency. In addition to exposure to facts through the regular use of a chart, I regularly incorporate games and activities designed to help students build automaticity. But I no longer allow fluency to be a gatekeeper to deeper learning; it’s a means to achieving much more lofty goals. The multiplication chart is simply a bridge that allows students to reach a higher level while
they’re still building knowledge. Just as we wouldn’t stop teaching phonics or spelling when students are learning to write compound and complex sentences, the basics are still part of the package. I provide practice with math facts as we learn fraction operations, algebraic thinking, proportional reasoning, and more. These facts are one part of a much larger suite of content knowledge. My goal as a teacher is not to reward speed or memorization, but to nurture critical thinking, and ensure each child has the opportunity to see themself as a “math person”. I always tell my students “Faster isn’t better,” and “thoughtful and thorough is best.” Giving students tools like a multiplication chart doesn’t lower the bar; instead, it lightens the cognitive load so they have the confidence to rise to meet it.
The concepts of cognitive load and working memory have been the biggest catalysts for change in my classroom. I’ve come to recognize that students struggling with fact fluency aren’t necessarily less capable in math: they are cognitively overloaded.
REFERENCES Fuchs, L., Fuchs, D., Compton, D., Powell, S., Seethaler, P., Capizzi, A., Fletcher, J., & Schatschneider, C. (2006). The cognitive correlates of third-grade skill in arithmetic, algorithmic computation, and arithmetic word problems. Journal of Educational Psychology. Seitz, K. & Schumann-Hengsteler, R. (2002). Phonological loop and central executive processes in mental addition and multiplication. Psychologische Beitrag, January. Whitman, G., & Kelleher, I. (2023). Neuroteach: brain science and the future of education. Rowman & Littlefield.
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Reflecting on Engagement BY SAMUEL HUDI 7TH GR ADE ENGLISH TE ACHER
One of the strengths of Metairie Park Country Day School is its commitment to progressive education and the willingness of its teachers to experiment in their practice. This philosophy was one of the things that most attracted me to this school as a candidate in 2024 and what informed my attitude towards teaching as I planned and prepared for my first year. I knew that I wanted to focus on creativity and engagement–both powerful tools for creating enthusiastic readers and learners. Engagement is an undeniable driving force in learning. Research indicates that, all other factors equal, students who are interested and engaged in their learning are months ahead of their peers who are not similarly engaged. Engagement in learning can be thought of in three domains: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive. Behavioral engagement involves those positive social behaviors that lead to constructive learning: adhering to classroom norms, positively contributing to classroom activities, and persisting in efforts to learn. Emotional engagement considers fostering interest in classroom activities, mitigating boredom, and encouraging a positive attitude towards learning. Cognitive engagement is characterized by an eagerness to grapple with complex thinking and demonstrating flexibility of thought. The Science of Learning calls for teachers to teach and assess in multiple
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modalities while moving beyond lecture into relevant and engaging learning experiences. These principles are what guided my teaching throughout the school year. Specifically, I wanted to utilize the strategies of The Science of Learning to increase interest in what we were reading. To do this I incorporated two end-of-unit activities in my course: an imaginary trial for a main character and a film treatment for an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. THE IMAGINARY TRIAL
The imaginary trial of Philip Malloy was inspired by my students’ discussions of the novel Nothing but the Truth by Avi. The story begins with the protagonist, Philip Malloy, humming along to the national anthem loudly to goad his teacher into reacting. She reacts by formally disciplining him, and her decision becomes the basis of a national decision centered around students’ rights to free speech. While reading the book, my students shifted blame among all parties involved. I would hear them arguing about the guilt or innocence of Philip, his parents, Ms. Narwin, and any of the other individuals who stoked conflict in the novel. I created the imaginary trial as an opportunity for students to formally conduct these discussions as a whole class. Based on the concept of a mock trial, the imaginary trial was meant
to serve two purposes: to assess students’ understanding of the novel and to introduce them to the concepts of argument, particularly the need to support claims with evidence and logic. The activity functioned both as a culmination of this unit and as a way to introduce skills for our next paper–the argumentative essay. To generate interest, the activity was meant to simulate a mock trial. Students took on the roles of judge, prosecution, defense, witnesses, and the jury. Students worked in groups of two or more to prepare for the trial by crafting claims, gathering evidence from the novel, and collaborating on speaking roles. On the day of the activity, students contributed by participating in their assigned roles, raising objections to arguments presented by the prosecution or defense, deliberating on a verdict, and finally voting to determine which side of the argument presented the strongest case. This experience created immense buy-in, interest, and engagement in the students. In the days leading up to the final project, I heard from students’ advisors that they were not only working on their projects during advisory but were passionately discussing and debating their ideas with one another. The day of the trial was probably the smoothest that my class has ever run. All students were constructively and joyfully participating by both sharing their ideas and responding to the thinking of others. Students listened to one another’s perspectives and adjusted their opinions during the class activity, changing their perspectives based on the logic and facts presented by their peers. Although they did not leave the room that day as masters of argument, they were able to authentically practice listening, backing up their points, and responding to opinions contrary to their own, and they did it all with a genuine smile.
THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING
• The Honorable Judge Lizzie presiding over the courtroom while the prosecution prepares their closing arguments. T H E F I L M T R E AT M E N T
Anyone who’s taught Shakespeare to middle school students is familiar with the groans and grumbles that come with asking students to take out the book on the first day. It’s understandable. Shakespeare is intimidating, and without knowing how the timeless themes connect to their own lives, students overlook the relevance that keeps his work in the canon. My goals for this unit were to give students a positive experience with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and to plant a seed that their future English teachers could nurture and grow. While designing the assessment for this unit, I struggled with deciding whether to end the year with a creative piece or an academic essay, but I settled on creative writing with the hope that this would reinforce their positive impression of reading their first Shakespearean play. The creative writing assignment for this unit employed multiple modalities by mixing a written piece with a digital art project. At the end of the unit, students had to reimagine the plot of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a film adaptation that appealed to a chosen audience. After writing a film treatment for their proposal, they also had to produce a digital poster that appealed to the same audience. To begin, students were introduced to the idea of adapting a Shakespearean play into a narrative that appealed to a modern viewer. We looked at examples of movies like Gnomeo and Juliet and West Side Story. From there, I used interleaving to weave in elements of rhetoric from the previous unit by asking students to consider the audience, message, and purpose of these films. After planning and organizing their ideas, students continued the writing process by drafting and revising their film treatments. The second half of the project catered to a different modality by asking students to create a digital film poster using a variety of found, original, or AI generated images. Students had to consider how to visually articulate their new plots in a way that would generate interest in their film.
• Emerson’s poster for his film The Battle of the School Supplies.
What I enjoyed most about this project was the work that students had to do in the initial stages. While the poster and the creative writing assignment generated interest and created motivation to work, the more pressing objective was to encourage students to think about the characters and plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. These activities provided an incentive for students to consider both the plot of the play and the roles of the characters within that story through a creative venue. LOOKING AHEAD
As I plan for the next school year, I know that I want to incorporate more of these learning experiences. These two projects created opportunities for engagement that encouraged students to positively contribute to the classroom, approach learning with joy, and expand their thinking in creative ways. By prioritizing both engagement and the Science of Learning in my teaching, I hope to be able to both foster an appreciation for literature and provide students with the skills and knowledge to grow as lifelong learners and readers.
REFERENCES Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) (2017). Improving high school engagement, classroom practices and achievement. Learning Curve, 18, 1-19. Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of educational research, 74(1), 59-109.
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Reminders from Stevie Budd BY N I N N E T T E VA R I S C O DIRECTOR OF COMMUNIT Y AND BELONGING
“I would rather be here by myself than engage in meaningless conversation with people I don’t care about.” This Stevie Budd quote might not seem like something a leader would say, and it’s probably not, as she begins her time on Schitt’s Creek, sarcastic, aloof, and detached. But as time goes on, Stevie learns to use her quiet voice, and her introverted nature makes her an unexpected leader. Stevie is a reminder of lessons learned from the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute (gcLi), whose premise is that virtually all students possess the capacity to lead and that educators can teach and nurture those skills in students, even those who present themselves as Stevie Budd. After attending gcLi in 2024, my thinking about students like Stevie as a leader was upended. Studying the gcLi’s Pedagogy of Leadership® was at the heart of this: “Rooted in brain science, leadership studies, and developmental psychology, it integrates a vast array of information with one goal: giving teachers the knowledge they need to develop the next generation of leaders.” The idea that leadership can be taught and all students possess the potential to be leaders was something I had not considered before. It also dovetailed perfectly with the CTTL's Science of Learning framework, which we incorporate at Metairie Park Country Day. When planning with the Science of Learning in mind, there is an understanding that educators
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will establish and communicate high expectations for all students, while nurturing each student’s voice through a “just right” exposure to challenges. Additional similarities across gcLi and the Science of Learning include the intentional creation of a community where students develop a sense of belonging. Both also focus on embedding the environment with habits that will set reflection and growth as the norm. So what does all this mean for educating students like Stevie Budd? Working with “official” student leaders across divisions, it’s easy to support and facilitate their work; these self-selected students are usually comfortable stepping into the traditional role of leader, the voice on the microphone. What about the broader population? I believe all students have strengths that sometimes need to be uncovered, but I had never considered leadership as a group of skills that could be cultivated. Through this weeklong institute, my mindset shifted, and I realized that I needed to expand my definition of leadership and eliminate some myths and stereotypes that I had; only then could I facilitate this in students. I now have a greater understanding and a heftier toolkit that reframed my thinking and allowed me to share this with students. Intentionally developing awareness around this for both myself and students became a priority. I often thought of the gcLi idea that leadership is a habit of mind, a practice, and not a
position. I recalled the theories of Dr. Ron Heifetz, whose name is regularly invoked during gcLi. In his writing about Heifetz, facilitator Mike Pardee explained Heifetz’s idea that “the task of adaptive leadership is generating capacity, not dependency…By promoting an ethos of learning, collaboration, creativity, and resilience…” Thanks to Lower School principal Mimi Odem and the fifth grade teaching team, I was allowed to dive in and explore how we could weave these ideas into the lives of our fifth grade students. I was given precious time in the schedule where I could directly teach each homeroom over the course of the year. Both gcLi and the Science of Learning encourage self-awareness and reflection as core tenets. For this reason, during these lessons, students started by thinking about leadership in general and sharing their thoughts. Examples of prompts included how someone acquires the label of leader, what might that actually look like as a fifth grader, and whether or not all fifth graders are truly expected to step into the role as “seniors of the lower school.” Students discussed these ideas with each other, and some stereotypes were brought to light. Over the following months, they were given further prompts to unpack, as well as activities designed to highlight different facets of leadership and serve as low-stakes “crucibles” for generating discomfort. Reflection and feedback were consistent aspects. One activity that students participated in was titled Helium Hoop. Students worked in small groups to lower a hula hoop to the ground with specific rules in place. Both index fingers had to support the hoop while remaining rigid and straight, keeping the hoop level. If anyone broke these rules, the group had to start again. (And again and again.) It’s no surprise that some groups worked
THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING
together better than others, and all encountered frustrations and problems that had to be solved. How they reacted to the challenge was the basis for their reflection in writing afterwards. It was evident that they were indeed building awareness of who guided the group, what specific behaviors enabled this, and how their own behaviors impacted the resolution. Some students saw in action that the guides were not necessarily the loudest voices or the “bossiest” but that their group could have been led by a gentle nudge or quiet suggestion. A second activity in which students participated was a simple game of counting. The constraint in this challenge was that no words could be
spoken other than the single number said by each individual, and they had to count one at a time. Students sat in a circle but could not simply go around the circle, so they had to communicate in other ways. If anyone spoke over another person, the group had to begin again. (And again and again.) After many attempts, strategies began to form, and once the goal was achieved or time ran out, we debriefed with the help of counselor Tricia Newton. Students again reflected and gave feedback about successes and failures, methods of communication that worked better than others, and other observations, such as how important it was to attend to subtle cues. With reflection, metacognition, and focus on behaviors that supported leadership,
they were literally seeing the different ways that each in a group could take the helm. The reflections also led to further conversations about how they viewed themselves as leaders and what labels were assigned to themselves and others. Reflecting on the year, I am happy with my first attempt at incorporating the gcLi framework. It fits in perfectly with frameworks already embedded in our school, and I can see how this kind of intentional work can expand the leaders in our community. Perhaps more of the Stevie Budds will recognize these abilities within themselves and tap into them with confidence.
REFERENCES Pardee, M. (2022, December). Ron Heifetz on exercising leadership & his pedagogy of (adaptive) leadership development [PDF]. https://drive.google.com/file/ d/1Yy33HZKcILO-UHMomDcL6_whhZAOb3qC/view Percy, S. (2016, June 10). Do extroverts make better leaders? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypercy/2019/06/10/do-extroverts-make-better-leaders/ Reflection for helium hoop [Google Doc]. (n.d.). https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D9ADPnkfWivh1sz-8BIBFjjWKVcy7GVv5Ndlh5FjCao/edit?tab=t.0
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“It’s a Lot Better than Whatever it Was that You Had Going on Last Year.” BY TE R E SA YO R K M I D D L E & U P P E R S C H O O L S PA N I S H T E AC H E R
It was one year post-COVID. We were still in masks. As a language teacher, I had no clear idea what my students were saying with covered mouths, and I was lost. Being at a new school and teaching a younger age group for the first time in my career was challenging. The only weapon I had in my arsenal was a number: the grade. Me saying “everything is graded” gave me control in an uncertain time. Every classwork or homework assignment, quiz, and even the warm up was graded, but it was only to give me the illusion of classroom management.
“feedback” had its own category in our Science of Learning field guide. I wanted to start there. To make a change, I researched how a grading system could fit within the acquisition-driven classroom. How could I give feedback to students that they could understand, and then have them know what they needed to do to improve? How could I take out the power of the number and place more emphasis on the effort given to meet a target? How could I motivate students to level up and go beyond the minimum requirements in a brainfriendly way?
I realized what I knew deep down, but had quickly forgotten in a hand sanitizer haze: numbers motivate some, but not all. Those who didn’t do the work, I tried to chase, and the ones with A’s begged for more points. On top of that, my “everything counts” grading practices bred fear and reduced risk-taking (the thing I begged them to do). And then there was the student quote on my class feedback survey: “SHE GRADES EVERYTHING OUT OF 100 POINTS. IT’S SO STUPIDDDDD.” Back to the drawing board.
I started by reading “Grading for Equity,” by Joe Feldman. I learned how confusing it is for students and parents to understand a number that is tied to compliance behaviors, divided into a million categories with varying percentages, and obliterated at any time by the destructive zero that is rarely overcome. I also researched standardsbased grading in the world language classroom through the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). They are already ahead of the game as they have created rubrics for communicative tasks for varying proficiency levels.
At our school, we started learning about the Science of Learning, and I saw that
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I stopped grading formative assessments
altogether because I recognized how these were just parts of the journey towards the performance of the summative assessment. I showed students our “can do” statements for each assignment (the why) and provided feedback. I still gave students a number, but it had a discernible meaning. A zero was “I have no evidence of your work,” and a four was “you exceeded the expectations of the assignment.” For each summative assessment, I used rubrics to show students whether they were exceeding, meeting, approaching, or developing towards the proficiency standards of that particular class. On writing tasks, I would also include a “good job” column and a “look out for this next time” so I could provide two to three points of feedback and avoid the essay covered in red ink corrections that demotivated hopes of ever learning a language. Passing back the work to the students, I felt a confidence like never before. I stood behind my feedback because it wasn’t a numbers game, an extra credit heist, or a devastating failure blow that would demoralize my young learners. My students received my new way of grading with open arms, but also with a bit of confusion at first. No more late night emails begging for points, no more calculations on the side of papers on “how many questions need to be right to get a passing grade.” I chased missing work less, but could also mention that “Johnny might have gotten a C on his assessment because he was missing seven assignments.” I could let the students and parents see the correlations between practice and performance. Do I still have work to do? Of course. As we battle frequent absences and apathy, I do think counting a small portion of a student’s grade towards effort on
THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING
• A gradebook for 8th grade Spanish that shows what students have completed and how well they met the “can do” statement of an assignment. Easy to use when showing students their progress as opposed to the difference between an “83” and a “91.”
formative assessments in middle school is developmentally appropriate. I will make this change next year and see how it goes. I’ve also discovered a “GLOW/ GROW” checklist from an ACTFL resource that I will employ next year, so I am not constantly searching for the right words of encouragement and critique in regards to second language acquisition goals.
At our school, we started
Teaching is a Science of Learning discipline, filled with emotion, patience, experimentation, and persistence. Sometimes, at the end of the day, I experience the pleasure of having my students tell me I have improved, and well, “It’s a lot better than whatever it was that you had going on last year.” Exceeding expectations.
there. To make a change,
learning about the Science of Learning, and I saw that “ feedback” had its own category in our placemat guide. I wanted to start I researched how a grading system could fit within the acquisition-driven classroom. How could I give feedback to students that they could understand, and then have them know what they needed to do to improve?
REFERENCES Feldman, J. (2019). Grading for equity: what it is, why it matters, and how it can transform schools and classrooms. Corwin, a SAGE Company. Ritz, C., & Travers, M. (2024). Proficiency-based instruction : teaching grammar for proficiency. ACTFL.
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