As teachers, we’ve all felt the frustration of watching a student fall through the cracks because the curriculum is moving faster than they are. We’ve all wondered: how do we actually catch them up without just ‘watering down’ the work?
In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Kent Johnson and Andrew Kieta from Morningside Academy. What makes this conversation so special is that it’s not just theory. Morningside has spent over 40 years in their Seattle lab school proving that these challenges have answers. They have essentially “cracked the code” on the most persistent problems we face in schools.
We dive into their world-renowned model of Generative Instruction, exploring how they use “Precision Teaching” to build effortless fluency and why they group students by achievement rather than age. You’ll learn why a student who is 100% accurate can still be struggling and how a “Money Back Guarantee” on student growth is actually possible when you engineer instruction with this much precision. This is a deep look at how we can stop “praying and spraying” our teaching and start giving every student the success they deserve.
Resources mentioned:
- MorningsideAcademy.org
- Morningside Summer Institute
- John Dewey: How We Think
- Lev Vygotsky
- Michael Maloney
- Israel Goldiamond
- Tom Gilbert – Mathetics
- Ogden Lindsley
- Carl Binder
- Owen White
- Norris Haring
- B.F. Skinner
- Jerome Bruner
- Fred Keller
- Brendan Lee: “Engineering the Aha! When Discovery Learning Actually Works”
- Ryan O’Donnell’s documentary about Morningside Academy: The Morningside Model of Generative Instruction
You can connect with Kent:
You can connect with Andrew:
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net
About Kimberly
Kimberly Nix Berens, Ph.D., is the Founder of Fit Learning and CEO of Fit Learning Online. She co-created a powerful system of instruction based in behavior science and the Technology of Teaching, which has transformed the learning abilities of thousands of children worldwide. For more than 20 years, her system of instruction has produced at least one year’s worth of academic growth in only 40 hours of training. Her learning programs effectively target such essential areas as early learning skills, basic classroom readiness, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, comprehension, inferential language, basic and advanced mathematics, logical problem solving, grammar, and expressive writing. From her early beginnings in a broom closet at the University of Nevada – Reno, Dr. Berens has helped grow Fit Learning to an organization with centers located throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. In her current role as CEO of Fit Learning Online, she focuses on increasing access for learners living in regions without a Fit Learning center. Dr. Berens is a frequent invited speaker and a contributor to many popular press publications such as Thrive Global, 74 Million, and Medium. Her first book, Blind Spots: Why Students Fail and the Science That Can Save Them, was released in October of 2020.
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