My friend, Kaitlin, decided 3/4 of the way through this past school year that it was time to get more intentional in her attempts to motivate and inspire her students.  She decided that she could use her relationships with students to appropriately and actively point them toward the truths of life that will encourage them to live out the purpose for which they were created.  With a little…

If any members of the FTN are going to be attending the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals annual conference this coming week in Williamsburg, I would invite you to attend one of the Freshman Transition roundtables I will be leading on Tuesday.  There will be 3 25-minute repeating sessions at 10:30, 11:00, and 11:30.  The 25-minute format will only for the most basic of overviews, but it should still…

Are you required to create formal growth objectives for next year?  Or are you simply interested in finding new ways to grow professionally regardless of whether or not you are required to have formal objectives?  Would you like to reach more effectively your most needy students?  Do you hope to have a lasting impact in the lives of the young people you encounter?

If your answer to any of those questions was "Yes", then I would strongly encourage you to consider creating for…

Years ago, my good friend and colleague, Ray Moore, attended an AVID conference in San Diego.  He tells me that at the conference he heard the superintendent of San Diego City Schools state the following:

It is the responsibility of schools to give students access to the American Dream. First, we must make them believe they can have access. Then,…

The Freshman Transition Network is full of blogs and resources related to starting/creating a Freshman Transition Program (FTP). In an attempt to make it easier for members to find these resources, this blog post is being added to the Hot Topics section of the main page to consolidate the resources related to the essential components of an FTP.

• Part 1 - A team of…

Since Alan Seibert, Ray Moore, and Scott Habeeb - the 3 co-authors of The Ninth Grade Opportunity - are all Hokies, Virginia Tech decided to do a short feature on them in…

This blog post is a reprint of an article originally published on Education Week.…

The 2 x 10 Method: Building Student Relationships One Kid at a Time

January 10th, 2011, By: Diane Trim in Articles, Classroom Management

This has been reposted from Inside the School. Click…

At the Freshman Transition Network we are always trying to find resources that can be used in the classroom to motivate and inspire kids.  This video is one such resource.  

Your students need to see this.  After they watch it, take an opportunity to talk about how they treat their fellow man.  Talk to them about Love and Forgiveness and Humility.  Take a moment to talk about judging others and the treating others as they want to be treated.  Teach them about strength and…

This was originally posted on Assessment FOR Learning.

Recently I spent a few minutes in the classroom of SHS Marketing teacher Michelle Kovac.  Her Marketing students had just turned in projects that day.  

When I came into the class the students were in the process of evaluating similar projects turned in by last year's students.  Mrs. Kovac had given her students a rubric when they…

Member of the Freshman Transition Network who have attended a Solutions, etc. Freshman Transition conference or who have read The Ninth Grade Opportunity are very familiar with Ray Moore and his passion for life.  You may not know, though, that for the…

If you regularly read the posts and resources on The Freshman Transition Network you know that we believe that an essential part of transitioning freshmen is teaching them about their role in the world. Successful transition is about more than just passing classes. It's about becoming the person you were created to be. As educators, we have a unique opportunity to guide students and to give them experiences outside of their norm.