Lisa WestmanAug 18, 20201 minThe Intersection of Empathy and InstructionThe number of students in our classrooms who have experienced trauma is steadily increasing: 67.5 percent of children have experienced or...
Lisa WestmanMay 18, 20201 minWhy We Need Differentiation Now More Than EverIn the time of remote learning, differentiating instruction is critical. For many educators, differentiation can seem like "one more...
Lisa WestmanJul 1, 20195 minStandards Based Grading Made My Kid AverageThis post was originally published in @PeterMDeWitt’s blog Finding Common Ground in Education Week. Recently a friend called me in a...
Lisa WestmanFeb 14, 20191 minStudent-Driven Differentiation and NGSSMargaret O’Sullivan for having me as their podcast guest. Check out our conversation about Student-Driven Differentiation here and let us...
Lisa WestmanJan 31, 20193 min3 Keys to Ease Teacher Resistance to Standards-Based GradingThis is a repost of Eric Patnoudes’ blogpost on the Otus blog on January 22, 2019. Let’s face it, change is hard. Especially when you’ve...
Lisa WestmanJan 10, 20191 minOur Teachers Don’t Like Standards-Based Grading, Now What?Is your school or district in the midst of or considering a transition to standards-based grading and experiencing some resistance? If...
Lisa WestmanDec 6, 20181 minOur Teachers Don’t Like Standards-Based Grading. Now what?Is your district considering a switch to standards-based grading and receiving pushback? There may be some legitimate reasons why and...
Lisa WestmanOct 18, 20182 minBe ‘Real’ & ‘Consistent’ to Build Positive Student RelationshipsThis post was originally published as part of Larry Ferlazzo’s column in Education Week Teacher on October 12, 2018 What are the best...
Lisa WestmanSep 30, 20184 minFix Contentious Parent-Teacher Conferences in These 6 StepsThis post was originally published in Education Week Teacher. Parent-teacher conferences can be some of the most rewarding—or the most...
Lisa WestmanAug 30, 20184 minSucceeding With Differentiationedutopia.org Student voice is a hot topic in education, which makes me exceedingly happy—I’ve always thought that students were an...
Lisa WestmanAug 2, 20184 minWould you hire one of your third-graders? I did.This post was written by a guest blogger, my husband, Keith:) When I was a third-grade teacher, the beginning of every school year was...
Lisa WestmanJun 6, 20184 minWant To Differentiate Instruction? Use Your Time Wisely.This article was originally published in Education Week Teacher. For more on any of the content below, check out Student-Driven...
Lisa WestmanMay 23, 20184 minHow to Overcome Common Anxieties About DifferentiationThis post was originally published on Corwin Connect. In my work with teachers across the country on differentiating instruction, it...
Lisa WestmanApr 3, 20184 min3 Ways To Blockbuster Your Report CardsToday’s guest post is written by Keith Westman. Follow him on Twitter at @keithwestman. Note: I am aware I am not the first person to...
Lisa WestmanMar 22, 20184 minRetakes Do Not Promote Laziness. They Exemplify CompassionThis article was originally published in Education Week Teacher. Editor’s note: For a counterpoint to this piece, see Baptiste Delvallé’s...
Lisa WestmanDec 14, 20175 minWhen it comes to discrimination “good intentions” are not enoughI have a confession to make. One of the reasons I married my husband was because I loved his younger brother. Now, before you jump to any...
Lisa WestmanDec 7, 20174 minHow Walkthroughs Hurt Differentiation EffortsCorwin Connect. For teachers, there is nothing worse than receiving a write-up that is riddled with unchecked boxes, zeros, or vague...
Lisa WestmanNov 30, 20171 minStudent-Driven DifferentiationWhat is Student-Driven Differentiation? Student-driven differentiation shifts the focus from what students are going to do to what...
Lisa WestmanAug 31, 20173 minThe greatest deficiency in education is our obsession with showcasing deficits.This August marks the first time in 15 years that I didn’t have an official first day of school. Instead, this August, I transitioned to...
Lisa WestmanAug 7, 20173 min3 Lessons I Learned Leading Startups That I Wish I Knew as a PrincipalHaving worked in leadership roles in both public education and in the edtech startup industry, there are three organizational behaviors...