= $

WE'RE MATCHING MONEY FOR SPROUT.

See Yourself Teaching is proud to sponsor ABQ Sprout, the micro-grant community event for local entrepreneurs, creatives, and non-profits.  To show our commitment, we'll match even more money for grants to improve the Albuquerque community - just sign up for our free email newsletter!

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT & GROW THE GRANT FUND.

Our newsletter is all about innovative ways that teaching and learning happen all around Albuquerque. For every person who joins our email list, we'll grow Sprout's grant fund by $1. Sign up today and share with your friends online! Every new sign-up is another dollar that grows innovation and creativity!

WE'LL ADD ANOTHER $1 EVERY TIME SOMEONE JOINS OUR LIST.

Everyone wins: Sprout grants more seed money, our community grows, we connect a little bit with you, and you get insightful articles about teaching around Albuquerque: articles like this one about the Open Space Visitor Center.

SIGN UP TODAY!

Teach to Train

We are dedicated to
improving the way teaching is done.

You can connect your students to your expertise and witness the "ah-ha!" moments you crave!  See Yourself Teaching can help.

We bring the skills of teaching to
your business, organization, or non-profit.

Our 'Train the Trainer' workshops will grow effective teaching skills in partnership with your Subject Matter Experts. Workshops are thoroughly customized for your needs, and focus on methods of:

  • Standards-based curriculum development
  • Planning and documenting lessons
  • Creating classroom environments in any setting
  • Evaluating proof of learning
  • Facilitation of educational events, including workshops of your own!

Contact us today!

See Yourself Teaching is a woman-owned small business located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.  Our master teachers bring to you over 25 years of experience and a passion for effective, personalized teaching and learning.

Hands On with Inspiration and Meaning: Challenger Learning Center New Mexico

Challenger Learning Center New Mexico is an impressive facility dedicated to space education.  Learners carry out authentic experiments as part of a realistic simulation of a mission in outer space.  The facility is divided into sections that emulate the kind of work actually done by NASA astronauts and ground crew.

... Read more and feed back!

Every Room Has its Own Smell: Southwest University of Visual Arts

We visited the Southwest University of Visual Arts today for a tour of their campus.  It was late in the semester, so we wouldn't disturb many students as we poked our noses in.  Our tour guide, Teri Farley, took us through the whole building--a deceptively huge space for one unobtrusive building!  The university is home to a diverse set of...

... Read more and feed back!

Understanding Spaces to Learn In: A Visit to the Open Space Visitor Center

We recently visited the Open Space Visitor Center on the west side of Albuquerque.  This marvelous space creates opportunities to understand the value of integrating protected natural environments with urban development.  As we toured the building and surrounding landscapes, we were excited to see how much care and...

... Read more and feed back!

Authentic Work - Students Develop a Unit Plan

We want to share with you some super-awesome photos of a workshop we recently held with our client-learners!  These show how learners use a hands-on approach to do meaningful work to demonstrate proficiencies as teachers.

... Read more and feed back!

Teaching when Time Constraints Change

We're finishing up a Unit Planning Design workshop with some client teachers this week.  Hooray!  It's taken a while to get here, and we've had to negotiate some tricky  time constraints. 

No bones about it: teachers are always pressed for more time in class.  Whether for a single session or over a 16-week course, the crunch always looms. ...

... Read more and feed back!

Improvising a Classroom: Hands-On at Quelab

We recently attended a community event at Albuquerque's own home-grown hackerspace: Quelab!  The event, "Becoming an Eco-McGyver", was to teach hands-on ideas about sustainability, efficiency, and reusability.  That meant turning Quelab into a classroom.

... Read more and feed back!

Teaching and TEDx: Reflections of a Troubled Sage on the Stage

One teacher whose Twitter account we follow, Melanie McBride, recently tweeted:

got asked to do a TEDx. much as I love the TED criteria, the presentation format is still sage...

... Read more and feed back!

Lose the Lecture Quality in Videos: Screw Them up with Misconceptions Instead

(Continued from Screw It Up to Teach It Better.)

Recorded videos can benefit particularly well from the use of Applied Misconceptions.  Here is how I use them to lose the lecture quality of recordings, and instead draw learners into doing their own mental work during playback.

...

... Read more and feed back!

Screw It Up to Teach It Better - Uncovering Misconceptions

I want to share with you how I recently used a teaching technique called "uncovering misconceptions" that creates provocations for the student to do the work of learning.  I'll define what I mean, then show you an example.

To uncover misconceptions, teachers intentionally screw up the lesson.   It takes a little imagination and showmanship to pull this off....

... Read more and feed back!

The Old Time Banjo Project: Teaching Back with Feeling(s)

Patrick Costello's Old Time Banjo Project has moved into its next set of lessons.  Like the first set, these lessons feature recordings contributed from anyone who loves playing the banjo and wants to chip in: experience is not a factor.

Here are the questions Patrick asks:

Record...

... Read more and feed back!

The Old Time Banjo Project: Stardom and Online Collaborative Teaching

I'm looking for a verb to replace the word "started."  I want something with a powerful sense: something that shows cunning mixed with boldness, something between mastery and conspiracy, something outside of authority and maybe a little rebellious. 

"Instigated."  That's the word.

Patrick Costello,...

... Read more and feed back!

Soccer Practice: An Observation on Building Standards, Part 2

In Part One of this article, I created two sets of standards: one that was a simple list of the exact skills of soccer, and another meta list that embraced the overall life lessons of soccer.

Each list had serious flaws.  They each focused on their own realms to the exclusion of the...

... Read more and feed back!

Soccer Practice: An Observation on Building Standards, Part 1

Last weekend, Linda and I braved the whipping Albuquerque winds to join our friends at soccer practice. Their five year-old daughter is in the local AYSO league. If you haven't seen a little league soccer game, I encourage you to go. There's a lot of fun to be had by watching little kids chase after a ball on a bright spring day...

... Read more and feed back!

Planning from the Roots Up

When I began my teaching career, I was full of exciting plans for lessons.  I could envision everything: my students, the classroom, the kinds of materials I'd use.  It was easy to imagine how the lesson would go.  I would be a masterful fount of experience.  The students would "get it."  My classroom would be fertile ground in which new and interesting...

... Read more and feed back!

Patrick Costello's 16 Hour Teaching Marathon, and What I Learned From It

All day yesterday, a man named Patrick Costello performed a remarkable feat.  For 16 hours, practically non-stop, he called budding musicians around the world and gave personalized lessons on playing the banjo.

And he did this for free.  Gratis.  No purchase required.  Just email in for an open...

... Read more and feed back!

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

We write about teaching all the time!  Subscribe to our RSS feed for updates.

"You can use all the quantitative data you can get, but in the end you still have to trust to your own intelligence and judgment."
- Alvin Toffler, businessman & teacher
Syndicate content