Megan Kruse

Learning Through Blogging

  • Power of Positive Resources
    • POP Articles/Blogs
    • POP Books
    • POP Media: Podcasts/Videos/Social Media
  • Science of Reading Resources
    • SOR Articles/Blogs
    • SOR Books
    • SOR Media: Podcasts/Videos/Social Media
  • Teacher Leader Model Standards
    • Collaborative Culture
    • Research
    • Professional Learning for Continuous Improvement
    • Facilitating Improvement in Instruction and Student Learning
    • Assessments and Data
    • Outreach and Collaboration
    • Student Learning and the Profession
  • About Me

Solution Tree

Navigating Change

September 22, 2024 by megankruse

It is nearing the end of September, and the work remains difficult.  As I’ve written several times since the start of this school year, our district is implementing lots of change.  Lots. via GIPHY We have gone from a four-building district to a two-building district, meaning new grade levels and new staff are housed under … [Read more…]

Posted in: Assessments and data, Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Personal Learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Research, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: Becky Morey, change, Corrine Swigart, embrace, Everything is Figuroutable, FMCSD, George Couros, Jane Santiago, Jenny Herriman, Julie Steele, linds, Lindsay Kemeny, Marie Forleo, Mark C. Perna, Meredith Ireland, PLC's, Rachella Dravis, Solution Tree, Wendy Bailey

Understanding Versus Knowing

September 15, 2024 by megankruse

In Daniel Willingham‘s book, Outsmart Your Brain:  Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make it Easy, he explains:  “‘Knowing’ doesn’t mean being able to understand an explanation; it means being able to explain to others.”  True evidence of learning is having the ability to restate, coherently, what you “know.”  We want to “evaluate … [Read more…]

Posted in: Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: Becky Morey, Benjamin Franklin, Corrine Swigart, Daniel Willingham, el education, FMCSD, four critical questions, Jane Santiago, Jenny Herriman, Kim Cano, Knowing, Libby Woodfin, Outsmart Your Brain, protocols, Rachella Dravis, Solution Tree, student discourse, Suzanne Nathan Plaut, Understanding, Wendy Bailey, Your Curriculum Companion

Mounting Pressure

August 25, 2024 by megankruse

I’ve been extra in-tune to the actions and reactions of others as the beginning of the school year ensues.  I have found myself in awe of (and trying to emulate)  many who not only do not buckle under pressure, but seem to thrive under pressure.  They settle in, listen, maintain neutral facial expressions and body … [Read more…]

Posted in: Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Personal Learning, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards Tagged: 50, Bill Hall, challenges, controversy, Martin Luther King, model PLC, predictable turmoil, Reed Haeger, Solution Tree, Sue Haeger

Clarity Precedes Competence

August 18, 2024 by megankruse

In a situation that I was trying to understand and help problem-solve, I quickly became frustrated and ultimately felt incompetent.  Upon further reflection, I recognized that this situation was a perfect illustration of a quote from Solution Tree’s Learning By Doing:  Clarity precedes competence. It is difficult to display competence, much less feel competent when … [Read more…]

Posted in: Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Personal Learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: clarity, collaboration, competence, Demitri Martin, Elton Kruse, George Couros, Learning by Doing, Madelyn Swigart, Mike Schmoker, progress through struggle, Solution Tree, success

The System

June 9, 2024 by megankruse

via GIPHY THE System:  Multi-Tiered Systems of Support My brain is on fire after listening to Stephanie Stollar on Melissa and Lori Love Literacy podcast, Episode 193.  I followed up the listen by reading and rereading the episode’s script and reading Stollar’s May 4 Same as it Ever Was blogpost.  I know she is saying … [Read more…]

Posted in: Assessments and data, Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Research, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: A Fresh Look at Phonics, Big Ideas in Literacy, Brain Words, Climbing the Ladder of Reading & Writing, el education, Everything is Figure Outable, FMCSD, George Couros, goals, Kim Cano, Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, MTSS, Outsmart Your Brain, Reading Science Academy, Solution Tree, Speech to Print, Stephanie Stollar, system, The Reading Comprehension Blueprint, The Reading Mind, The Writing Rope

Where You Place Your Eyes

May 20, 2024 by megankruse

There’s nothing better than spending time with people who make you feel good about life.  You know the type:  they are always smiling, they make you feel like you’re the most important person in the world, and they have a way of talking about others that shines a light on everybody.  These folks have it … [Read more…]

Posted in: Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Personal Learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: Chris Vallillo, Corner Tap, Dr. Lori Desautels, Eric Barker, FMCSD, Marvin McGregor, Oscar Wilde, Reed Haeger, Solution Tree, Sue Haeger, Tim Vonderhaar, Tina Boogren, Wendy Vonderhaar

Simple, But Not Easy

February 11, 2024 by megankruse

I usually avoid reading the plethora of blogs that I subscribe to on the day that I plan to post my latest writing.  I do this to avoid straying from the original idea for my own post that usually comes earlier in the week.  I like to let ideas “marinate” before adding more to the … [Read more…]

Posted in: Assessments and data, Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Personal Learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: Brené Brown, Chad Dumas, el education, Epictetus, Eric Barker, FMCSD, four critical questions, Gabrielle Zevin, George Couros, knowledge building, Knowledge Matters Campaign, Natalie Wexler, not easy, Reed Haeger, simple, Solution Tree, Sue Haeger, The Corner Tap, The Storied Life of A.J. FIkry, Timothy Shanahan

Know Thy Impact

October 17, 2023 by megankruse

I’ve been wrestling with this blogpost for several days now, and am late in posting it according to my self-imposed Sunday, 1:00 p.m. deadline.  I’m not sure that I can pinpoint the struggle with getting coherent words on the screen, but perhaps the struggle is evidence of the internal struggle I’m experiencing. The Internal Struggle … [Read more…]

Posted in: Assessments and data, Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Personal Learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Research, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: behavioral expectations, capacity, compliance, EDView360, FMCSD, instructional coaching, instructional expectations, John Hattie, Pam Austin, plan-teach-reflect, Solution Tree, struggle

Reading by the Numbers

April 23, 2023 by megankruse

100% This post was 100% inspired by the three literacy leaders I affectionately call “The Trifecta,”  Stacy Hurst, Lindsay Kemeny, and Donell Pons, hosts of Reading Horizons’ Literacy Talks podcast.  In Episode 6 of Season 3, Reading:  The Numbers Help Tell the Stories, The Trifecta focuses on the irony of how many numbers are involved … [Read more…]

Posted in: Assessments and data, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Outreach and collaboration with families and community, Personal Learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Research, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: 1, 100, 15, 18, 2, 200, 26, 3, 44, 52, 95, Angie Hanlin, Brita Oyen, Donell Pons, dyslexia, early childhood, George Couros, GPAEA, graphemes, intervention, it takes a village, Jason Kennedy, Jennifer Lamm, LETRS, Lindsay Kemeny, Literacy Talks, Louisa Moats, Mme Lockhart, numbers, one, phonemes, phonemic awareness, predictive indicators, preschool, Reading Horizons, Reading Rockets, Solution Tree, Stacy Hurst, systematic and explicit instruction, Teaching Reading is Rocket Science, the trifecta, Tier 1, tiers

It Takes Time, Growth Mindsets, and Intentional Planning

February 26, 2023 by megankruse

It takes time.  This a phrase uttered in multiple educational arenas when talking about student proficiency.  It takes time.  I have been reminded of this over and over again in my work as a teacher and as an instructional coach.  Most recently, I have been reminded of this with three exceptional learning opportunities:  1)  Episode … [Read more…]

Posted in: Assessments and data, Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Outreach and collaboration with families and community, Personal Learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Research, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: Angie Hanlin, coaching cycles, data, Dr. Anita Archer, Dr. Ernie Ortiz, edWeb, FAST screener, FMCSD, growth mindset, higher-order thinking, instructional expectations, intentional planning, it takes time, John Hattie, Kevin Hansford, Kimberly Cano, Laura Beaver, Learning Cubed, Matthews Elementary, Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, New Madrid Missouri, Pati Montgomery, Persida & Bill Himmele, Reading Horizons, science of reading, Solution Tree, Thorp Wisconsin, total participation techniques, TPT Cognitive Engagement Model
1 2 3 Next »

Recent Posts

  • Choose Carefully
  • Who I Want to Be When I Grow Up
  • The Human Brain
  • Showing Up
  • Competence, Confidence, and Lessons from the Field

Recent Comments

  • Julie on Choose Carefully
  • Katie on Question Everything
  • Elton on Generosity Abounds
  • Katie on This is Where the Rubber Meets the Road
  • Katie on Value in Values

Goodreads

Megan's bookshelf: read

The Flight Attendant
really liked it
The Flight Attendant
by Chris Bohjalian
Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
really liked it
Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
by Jennie Allen
Half Broke Horses
it was amazing
Half Broke Horses
by Jeannette Walls
Ground Zero
it was amazing
Ground Zero
by Alan Gratz
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia
really liked it
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia
by Emma Copley Eisenberg

goodreads.com

Archives

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021

Subscribe by Email

Completely spam free, opt out any time.

Please, insert a valid email.

Thank you, your email will be added to the mailing list once you click on the link in the confirmation email.

Spam protection has stopped this request. Please contact site owner for help.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tweets by bmkruse3

Categories

  • Assessments and data
  • Collaborative culture
  • Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning
  • Outreach and collaboration with families and community
  • Personal Learning
  • Professional learning for continuous improvement
  • Research
  • Student learning and the profession
  • Teacher Leader Model Standards
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • Edublogs - free blogs for education

Copyright © 2025 Megan Kruse.

Alpha WordPress Theme by themehall.com

Skip to toolbar
  • About WordPress
    • Get Involved
    • About Edublogs
    • Learn WordPress
    • Edublogs.org
    • Documentation
    • Contact
  • Log In