Rick Wormeli | Assessment and Differentiation Expert

Rick Wormeli

Assessment and Differentiation Expert

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DC, WA, US

Rick Wormeli
Biography

Why I Teach - "I teach to dispel the dark and remind the universe that we are not inconsequential. I teach because it's infinitely compelling to watch dynamic souls punch through their not so elastic cocoons of childhood, daring the community to accept their forward motion. Brushing complacency's dust from every day ideas and objects by viewing them through children's eyes opens our own, and it connects us to that golden, 'What if ?' superhero in our earlier selves. I teach because setting a constructive example for my students generates a greater ethic in me than I can achieve without their example or provocation. I teach because I am deeply, unrepentantly grateful for life, and the most potent way I know to express that gratitude is to build a world worthy of the next generation, then give them the tools to make it their own." - Rick Wormeli, published by Stenhouse Publishers, 2012

One of the first Nationally Board Certified teachers in America, Rick brings innovation, energy, validity and high standards to both his presentations and his instructional practice, which include 39 years teaching math, science, English, physical education, health, and history, as well as coaching teachers and principals. Rick's work has been reported in numerous media, including ABC's Good Morning America, Hardball with Chris Matthews, National Geographic and Good Housekeeping magazines, What Matters Most: Teaching for the 21st Century, and the Washington Post. He is a columnist for AMLE Magazine and a frequent contributor to ASCD's Education Leadership magazine. He is the author of the award-winning book Meet Me in the Middle as well as the best-selling books Day One and Beyond, Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom (Second Edition), Differentiation: From Planning to Practice and Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching any Subject, all five from Stenhouse Publishers, as well as Summarization in any Subject: 60 Innovative and Tech-Infused Strategies for Deeper Student Learning (releasing in fall 2018) published by ASCD. His book, The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I Learned about Teaching Along the Way, is collection of his published articles, guest blogs and more through 2013. His classroom practice is a showcase for ASCD's best-selling series, At Work in the Differentiated Classroom.

With his substantive presentations, sense of humor and unconventional approaches, he has been asked to present to teachers and administrators in all 50 states, Canada, China, Europe, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Australia the Middle East, and at the White House. He is a seasoned veteran of many international webcasts, and he is Disney's American Teacher Awards 1996 Outstanding English Teacher of the Nation. He won the 2008 James P. Garvin award from the New England League of Middle Schools for Teaching Excellence, Service and Leadership, and he has been a consultant for National Public Radio, USA Today, Court TV and the Smithsonian Institution's Natural Partners Program and their search for the giant squid. Rick lives in Herndon, Virginia, with his wife, Kelly, and both are proud of recently launching the last of their children into adulthood. With the kids' college years now behind them, Rick and Kelly are now eagerly spending their childrens' inheritance while Rick works on his first young adult fiction novel and a new book on changing the culture of a school for ethical grading practices.

Rick Wormeli
Featured Videos

Current: Rick Wormeli: Standards-Based Grading

Time 08:43

More Videos From Rick Wormeli

Rick Wormeli: Standards-Based Grading
Time 08:43
Rick Wormeli Talks DI & Creativity
Time 06:29
Rick Wormeli: Effecting Change
Time 06:25

Standards-Based Grading
Myth-busting, Ethics, and Practicality

Some parents, colleagues, school board members and business leaders struggle with what is and is not standards-based grading. Teachers and leaders using standards-based grading are facing some pushback from those with little background in it. As a result, they are backing away from something unusually effective in teaching and learning. Since current grading practices create very real futures, they better be accurate and ethical. Many traditional grading practices, unfortunately, are neither. This address presents the essential elements of standards-based grading, including its merits, potential pitfalls and candid responses to the most common concerns regarding its use. Vetted by decades of work in the U.S. and around the world, we will correct the misconceptions and make a compelling case for standards-based grading and student success.

Re-Dos & Re-Takes
Rationale, Myth-Busting and Practicalities

We become competent teachers by teaching a lot. We teach, receive critique, revise our efforts and teach again. Real learning that moves to long-term memory is demanding and reiterative, and we need to extend the same opportunities to our students in all fields of learning. Instead of applying uniform, arbitrarily sequenced, and unresponsive instruction, we can build proficiency with repeated, revised and meaningful engagement with content. Practical and research-based, join us for a provocative session in which we explore the pedagogical ethics and logistics for students re-doing assignments and assessments for full credit, and in such a way as to increase student maturation and achievement over that which could be achieved with "No re-do's allowed" policies. Real competence, not incompetence, is the best preparation for the next grade level, work and life. Indeed, every single profession demands reiteration for its dedicated, competent members. Let's not abdicate our adult roles in students' learning—let's build and maintain a constructive approach to re-learning and re-doing in the modern classroom!

Standards-Based Assessment and Grading

Join us for a candid and compelling look at what is and is not standards-based assessment and grading. We will explore what it means to be truly evidence-based in assessing and reporting students' achievements regarding standards and learner outcomes, and we will address the biggest concerns in grading today: averaging, zeroes on the 100-point scale, re-do's, percentages, grading scales, late work, valedictorian, what colleges are seeking, ethics/integrity, marking homework, extra credit, grade book and report card designs, formative vs. summative assessments, what constitutes evidence of mastery, reporting behavior/effort/character elements, disaggregation, and much more. Don't miss this chance to confront misconceptions and make the most of students' learning!

Note for Program Planners: A version of this presentation is available for school board and parent presentations for communities struggling with standards-based assessment and grading implementation or considering its use.

Cultivating Personal Creativity in Teachers and Students

Too often teachers and principals limit themselves to their current operating metaphors, seeing only one thing at a time and in a narrow dichotomy: we teach this way or we teach that way; we are higher or lower in some criterion; we use this technology and not that one. If we are not careful, we become trapped in an echo chamber of our own creation, thinking this is all there is, blind to the new democratization of knowledge. As students navigate a large and complex world, however, they need teachers who transcend linear and dichotomous thinking. More impactful than many building initiatives, cultivating teacher creativity helps teachers build resilience and solve instructional problems rather than succumb to complacency or blaming others. Join us for a fascinating and practical address in which we share specific elements of personal creativity and how to cultivate it in others.

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