How would you teach if the life of your child literally depended on you teaching successfully? This is a true story of when I realized...

Imagine trying to make a decision about what make of car to purchase. You see an advertisement for a particular make of car that claims,...

Not long ago I attended an education conference. As I was waiting for the morning program to begin I became engaged in conversation with...

When my 28-year-old daughter, Celeste, was about 3 years old, she dumped her Cheerios on the floor of the family room. Both my wife and...

For the sake of keeping it simple during the summer, we've collected a powerful, time-tested list of classroom hacks you can put to use...

For the past two years I have been transitioning from being a runner to being a runner and cyclist. My transition has been slowed by the...

You may have noticed the tagline for TESS Consulting states, “Inflating the tires, not reinventing the wheel”. You may also have wondered...

We at TESS attempt to provide relevant, up to date information and opinions on topics that impact teaching and learning. Our blog posts...

With Halloween in the air, the merits of tricks versus treats weighs on the minds of many. Very early in the history of TESS Consulting,...

If there is one thing in which there is near unanimous agreement among educators regarding our new standards, it is that the application...

In the media, we are bombarded with stories about teachers who are struggling and frustrated with implementing the Common Core standards...

While designing a lesson with a very good high school ELA teacher we got to the Review portion of the lesson. Responding to the...

“Checking for Understanding” has become a misunderstood educational catch phrase. The one thing that can be agreed upon is that “CFU” is...

Do you have a favorite TV show? Downton Abby? Breaking Bad? The Wire? What all these shows have in common is the serial telling of a...

As all new attempts at curriculum reform, the Common Core has generated its’ share of criticism. Looking back at Whole Language, New...

Q: How do I get my students to be meta-cognitive? It is difficult for my students to explain their thinking. A: Nearly all of us have a...

With the implementation of the Common Core Standards the publishers are at it again. Materials are merely being relabeled as “For Common...

A continuation of The Research Supporting TESS (part 1) The second great influence on the development of what we now know as direct...

Often, when doing teacher training in direct instruction, we are asked about the research behind the model. It is an honest question...