Joan
Educational Consultant
Joan Freedman is a creative, passionate, and experienced educator who enjoys helping fellow educators create learning experiences for students that are fueled by curiosity, deep and meaningful learning, and successful skill acquisition. She has worked with educators to develop Project-Based Learning units, STEAM activities centered around literature and math concepts, and helps to curate educational activities and resources for teachers and students. She believes in offering a content-rich curriculum, asking questions that will lead to deep thinking, and unlocking the talents which lie in each teacher and student. She has spent more than 30 years in education serving as an award-winning classroom teacher, a preschool director, and a curriculum specialist. Joan loves working with educators to reimagine the possibilities of a meaningful and engaging education for students through her passion, creativity, and expertise.
Joan's Workshops
All Content Areas
Visible Thinking Routines
Visible Thinking Routines teach students to make their ideas visible and accessible. They encourage students to use thinking skills and help promote a deeper understanding of how we think. They allow for deeper learning on the part of the students while engaging them in active learning strategies. By making thinking ‘visible’ students discover the ‘secret’ of learning by explaining their thinking and reasoning.
GRADES:
3-8
Literacy
The ABCs of PBL: Authentic, Broaden, Construct
Project/Problem/Place-Based Learning has proven to be an engaging way for students to learn important life skills, content standards, and key concepts. What is PBL? How do you teach content standards through PBL? How do you assess students? What are some ways to make learning more authentic?
GRADES:
K-8
All Content Areas
Ten Tools for Making Thinking Visible
Giving students opportunities to think by questioning, challenging, exploring, and solving problems is an essential life skill. It also helps students understand content more deeply and make connections. Visible Thinking Routines, developed by Harvard’s Project Zero researchers, give us ways we can teach our students how to make their thinking visible.
GRADES:
K-12
