Focused Instruction, teaching the way students naturally learn!
These student were learning to identify angles in math. The language frame helped students analyze attributes to choose the correct label
This clever teacher used a sequence map to support students during Expert Thinking and Guided Release.
If you’re like most educators, you’re a hard worker who knows all challenges can be overcome.
You are committed to feeling effective in your role and—more importantly—seeing results for the students you work with.
You value your time.
You desire to be viewed and treated as a professional.
You want real help and not one-size-fits-some solutions.
But something keeps getting in the way: There just seems to be so many things to take care of and no time to address them all. Maybe you feel like this principal:
“I feel like my staff and I are working hard towards getting all students to succeed. Sometimes, though, with everything happening in a given day, it can be difficult to feel like we’re making any progress. I hear about this strategy or this program that will help us, but too often teachers at my site are left feeling like it is just one more thing. Been there, done that.”
Does This Sound Like You or Your Colleagues?
Be honest:
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Do you feel like everyone is offering solutions that don’t really seem to work for your district, site or classroom?
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Do you fear that students are falling through the cracks?
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Do you worry that your efforts won’t yield the desired results?
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Do you get frustrated when something feels like “one more thing”?
If so, you’re not alone. All of us have felt this way.
We Know How You Feel.
Watch our video to learn more about TESS.
At TESS Consulting Group, we know what it feels like to be pulled in many directions—to have your carefully crafted plans disrupted by the reality of managing your district, school or classroom, all while you strive for what matters most—effective instruction, knowing your content, accurate assessments and an effective learning environment.
For years, as educators, we too, struggled to focus on what matters most. Too often, we felt that we were distracted by fads, false initiatives, and staff development efforts that sometimes actually contradicted each other. What we discovered is that results depend on a careful selection of priorities, focus on those priorities and establishing a “this is the way we do things in this district.” Those discoveries are exemplified in our website, our blogs, and our training programs.
As former district administrators, principals, and teachers, the consultants at TESS Consulting Group have faced the reality that there will always be things that get in the way of what matters most. But we also realized the answer isn’t simply to chase after the latest fad or program. The answer it to stay focused on the right things.
If you’re like us, that means making effective teaching that doesn’t waste your time or your students’ time, that stays true to who you are, that seamlessly fits in to the other things you are working on a top priority.
Our Goal for This Website
Through our website and blog, our mission is to give you the clarity, the shared vocabulary, and the instructional framework you need to succeed—in your classroom and with your PLC. From practical tools to support your work and goals, to strategies for increased student engagement, to a plan that accounts for when and how to increase the rigor of instruction, our goal is to empower you and your colleagues to do what matters most.
Does this sound good to you too? We encourage you to subscribe to our mailing list to receive regular updates about how Focused Instruction is making a difference in classrooms near you!
If you’re new to our site, here are some of our most popular resources:
Instructional Resources For the New Standards
Administrative Tools
We provide support to teachers and administrators at both the micro and macro levels by using a concurrent dual coaching model.
The dynamic nature of our training means the focus continually shifts from the micro (the individual), to the macro (the organization), and back to the micro based on formative data generated from coaching efforts.
Our Services
While the content on our site is here to support you wherever and whenever you need it, we do offer an array of professional learning solutions designed to naturally align with whatever other initiatives you have in motion. Be sure to check out our Services page to learn more.
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Are you immersed in plans to roll out the new standards and want to put it into action?
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What are the gaps between your current programs and practices and your vision of 21st Century learning?
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What are the bottlenecks at your site preventing high levels of student achievement with the new learning targets?
We help you answer these questions and develop action steps toward achieveing your district's goals