Author Archives: Beyond The Apple

About Beyond The Apple

Beyond the Apple provides everything a Professional Learning Community needs! Designed to follow Beyond the Apple's Tenets of Adult Education, our videos re-ignite the excitement of professional conversations among educators in the classroom, university, colleges and professional training. Our free teaching and learning resources provide a follow up with more information that is current, research based and practical.

Rethinking Alphabet Charts

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Beyond The Apple

Check out this alphabet chart. H is for chicken, Q is for people, R is for flower, S is for dessert, J is for drink, N is for spaghetti and Q is for queue. What??? This chart (and many like … Continue reading →

Posted in Culturally Responsive Teaching, Educational Change | Tagged alphabet, alphabet charts, classroom charts, Culturally Responsive Teaching, phonics, phonolgical awareness, student centered instruction | Leave a comment

Close looking: “O that she knew she were . . . a balloon?”

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Beyond The Apple

From: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/balloon-twisting-team-canada-world-convention-mickey-mouse-1.4585695 At Beyond the Apple, we’re always looking for an intriguing image that provides an anchor to “cog up” a student’s problem solving. When we saw Canada’s Twisted Team recreate Romeo and Juliet’s balcony scene in balloons, we knew … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning is About Wondering, Questioning and Problem Solving | Tagged balloon twisting, Close Looking, curiosity, feedback, Growth Mindset, mindset, problem solving, thinking, wondering | Leave a comment

Re-imagining our teaching practice: how do we begin?

Posted on March 5, 2018 by Beyond The Apple

Dana’s words, “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn” serve to open this conversation about how a teacher’s ongoing professional learning can and should modify, enhance or wholeheartedly change their teaching practice. Let’s get that conversation started. Accept … Continue reading →

Posted in Educational Change | Tagged appreciate inquiry, Assessment, disengaged students, edcuational change, feedback, funds of knowledge, literate identity, mindset, professional learning communities, teaching | Leave a comment

Does the image of an apple hold back educational change?

Posted on January 20, 2018 by Beyond The Apple

The purpose of an iconic image is to create and sustain a message. So, why does an apple represent education? It might be a reference to Newton’s apple, which certainly reflects the search for knowledge, but here’s what most people … Continue reading →

Posted in Educational Change | Tagged communication, Educational Change, learning, mindset, professional development | 1 Comment

Exploring Social Studies Through Arts-Based Pedagogy

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Beyond The Apple

The Beyond the Apple video introducing arts based pedagogy is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N5Yg4Q3xq8 Infusing arts-based pedagogy into classroom practice provides students and teachers with an opportunity to view content through a new perspective. Here’s how we used arts based pedagogy … Continue reading →

Posted in Culturally Responsive Teaching | 1 Comment

What Does Growth Mindset Look Like?

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Beyond The Apple

Growth mindset, first mentioned by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, is a simple but powerful idea with tremendous impact. In essence, people with a growth mindset have a “not yet” attitude. Rather than thinking “I don’t know it”, a person … Continue reading →

Posted in Educational Change | Tagged "not yet", carol dweck, Growth Mindset, growth mindset and tech decks, learning, learning through skateboarding, mindset, practice makes perfect, problem solving, thinking | Leave a comment

Rethinking lesson planning

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Beyond The Apple

(from lesson plan templates / Google images) Writing lesson plans is an integral component of a teacher’s daily practice. The lesson plan template is designed to communicate the topic of the lesson (the curriculum focus), the activities of the lesson … Continue reading →

Posted in Educational Change | Tagged Assessment, assessment informed instruction, cross curricular learning, curriculum, curriulum outcomes, differentiation, equity, feedback, lesson planning, mindset, responsive instruction | Leave a comment

Let’s Do Our Homework About Homework

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Beyond The Apple

A change in thinking about homework is upon us . . . and it can’t come fast enough. Here are some articles to start this conversation: Homework Alert: How Much is Enough? Council of Ministers of Education, Canada Rethinking Homework … Continue reading →

Posted in Educational Change | Leave a comment

Gosling Glen and Duckling Dell: Street signs that make us think

Posted on October 7, 2017 by Beyond The Apple

Driving through Amherst, Nova Scotia, I saw this street intriguing sign. The elementary school teacher in me was intrigued. For the rest of my drive, I thought about how to use this image as an anchor for a project that … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Learning, Learning is About Wondering, Questioning and Problem Solving | Tagged cross curricular learning, inquiry based learning, project based learning, questioning, thinking, wondering | Leave a comment

Close Looking (1): An “After the Storm” Beach Alphabet

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Beyond The Apple

At Beyond the Apple, we’re always looking for an interesting image or piece of text to create an engaging anchor for a lesson. Who knew we’d find our next image on a Nova Scotia beach after a mid-summer Nor’easter? After … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Learning, Learning is About Wondering, Questioning and Problem Solving | Leave a comment