Until a teacher learns to use elements like time, space, materials, groupings, and so forth flexibly, it's incredibly difficult to teach students as they need to be taught.

We have students at the university say on a regular basis, "You're asking us to think and no one has ever done that in school."

I have little interest in a surgeon who says, "I learned that when I was in medical school. Why should I revisit it?" or who says, "I've done that operation the same way for ten years. Don't bother me with new approaches." I see teaching in the same way.

Readiness is a student’s entry point relative to a particular understanding or skill.

We need to understand where are students are at any point during a unit - in other words, what each student actually knows, understands, and can do at a given time based on the content goals we've established.

Teaching is a very habit-bound endeavor. We're unsettled by the unfamiliar. We're creatures of habit too.

The best educators I have met never stop asking questions. Some of them have taught for forty years and continue to be energized by new possibilities.