Teach Me

  12 Areas That Transform a Classroom Book review of The New Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano. By Jason T. Rogers I’ll be honest—I've read a lot of teaching frameworks over the years. Some are packed with theory but hard to apply. Others give you checklists but forget the heart. But I did enjoy the book  The New Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano.  It’s not about gimmicks or trends—it’s about building a classroom where learning sticks and students grow. There are 12 key areas in this framework. I want to walk you through. I’ll share quick example moments from a story story I call  Mrs. Lacey’s fifth-grade science class . You’ll see these ideas come to life in a way that’s simple, doable, and inspiring. 1. Providing and Communicating Learning Goals Mrs. Lacey starts class with a clear goal: “I can describe the planets in our solar system and explain their unique characteristics.” Every student sees it. They track it. They own i...

  VISIBLE LEARNING Making Learning Visible: Insights from John Hattie Dr. John Hattie, a leading education researcher, has transformed how educators understand effective teaching and student achievement. In his groundbreaking work, Visible Learning , Hattie synthesizes decades of global research to uncover what truly impacts learning outcomes. One of his core messages is simple yet powerful: "When learning is visible, students know what to do, how to do it, and where to go next." In the video “What Works Best in Education: John Hattie at TEDxNorrköping” , Hattie dives deep into the data, revealing the factors that most significantly affect student success. He explains the importance of teacher clarity, feedback, and setting high expectations. Rather than relying on popular trends or assumptions, Hattie uses evidence-based findings to guide instructional practices. One of the most striking ideas from the video is that it's not about what teachers do—but about how studen...

The Parts of Learning By Jason T. Rogers I’ve been trying to learn electronics lately. There’s this idea in my head—this vision—of building my own computer parts a few years from now. Not just tinkering, but really understanding what’s happening inside the circuits, the components, the flow of energy. I don’t want to just use technology. I want to shape it. But I’ve also realized something: learning is rarely a straight line. It’s more like a cycle of excitement, frustration, curiosity, confusion, and rediscovery. Over and over again. A Delicate Balance There’s this delicate balance between desire, curiosity, exploration, and how I feel about my progress . That last part—how I feel about it—turns out to be one of the biggest pieces. Sometimes I come across a complicated spec sheet or a dense diagram, and my brain just stops. It's like trying to read another language. I feel overwhelmed. Depressed, even. I find myself thinking, how long is it going to take before I can actually und...

  The Desire to Learn — and the Story We Tell Ourselves When It Gets Hard By Jason T. Rogers There’s an old story that’s been told for more than two thousand years. Simple on the surface. But it holds something deeper—something we still wrestle with today. A fox is walking through the woods on a hot day. He’s hungry. He sees a vine full of ripe grapes hanging high above him. They’re just out of reach. He jumps once. Misses. He jumps again. Still too high. He keeps trying, and trying, but he can’t reach them. After a while, he walks away and says, “Those grapes were probably sour anyway.” That story comes from Aesop, a storyteller from ancient Greece. His fables were short, sharp, and packed with human truth. This one’s where we get the phrase “sour grapes.” What’s funny—and a little sad—is how often we do this in our own lives. Especially when it comes to learning something new. Wanting to Learn Is Natural. Sticking with It? That’s Where It Gets Real. Think about it: we ...

The System Matters By Jason T. Rogers I was reading a book recently, and one line hit me hard: “It’s not the people—it’s the system.” That idea has been sitting with me ever since. And the more I look around, the more it rings true. Whether we’re talking about education, public health, housing, or how we support Indigenous communities—the same pattern shows up. If the system is broken, it doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it. You can pour in funding. Hire more people. Add more programs. But if the foundation is flawed, all you’re doing is building on top of something that can’t carry the weight. A Lesson from History One example that really stands out is how governments have tried—again and again—to “fix” systems for Indigenous and Aboriginal communities. The problem isn’t just underfunding. It’s deeper than that. Over the years, governments have poured billions into education systems, health systems, and economic development programs designed to help Indigenous po...

The Spark Is Missing It’s Not Just the System—It’s the Spark That’s Gone Missing By Jason T. Rogers We talk a lot about the education system—what’s broken, what needs reform, what’s outdated. And yes, there’s work to be done there. But sometimes, I think we’re missing the real problem. The issue isn’t always the system itself. The deeper problem is the fading desire to be better than we are now. That quiet, inner drive to grow, explore, and improve—it’s what real learning is made of. But in too many classrooms, that desire is slowly being crushed out of our students. The Spark Is Still There—But It’s Fading Kids aren’t born unmotivated. You can see it in toddlers—how they explore everything with wide eyes and endless questions. That’s natural learning . Curiosity in motion. But somewhere along the way, that spark starts to dim. By the time many students hit middle school or high school, they’re not asking how can I grow? —they’re asking what’s the minimum I need to pass this ...

Do Schools Kill Creativity? A Conversation We Still Need to Have By Jason T. Rogers I’ve watched a lot of TED Talks over the years, but there’s one I keep coming back to. It’s simple, sharp, and deeply human. Sir Ken Robinson’s “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” If you haven’t seen it, take 20 minutes and watch it. If you have seen it, watch it again. Not because you forgot what he said—but because his message is more relevant now than ever. “We don’t grow into creativity. We grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out of it.” That line hit me the first time I heard it—and it still does. A System That’s Lost Its Way Robinson makes a compelling point: the way we’ve built school systems doesn’t nurture creativity—it systematically squeezes it out . Children start school with natural curiosity. They explore. They experiment. They make mistakes. And they learn from those mistakes. But somewhere along the way, we teach them to stop doing that. We tell them there's one right ...