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🌿 Assessment Without Pressure: How Finnish Teachers Measure Learning (and Why It Works)
What if assessment didn’t create stress, but confidence?
In this post, we explore how Finnish-inspired assessment helps students think aloud, reflect on their learning, and grow without pressure — and how any teacher can apply these calm, clear strategies across subjects.
vanessa speigle
Dec 14 min read


🌱 Lesson Planning the Finnish Way: From Objectives to Curiosity
What if lesson planning stopped being about covering content — and became about sparking curiosity? In Finland, teachers design lessons that begin with wonder, exploration, and student voice. This blog shows how to bring that same thinking into CBC classrooms through simple shifts that create deeper learning, agency, and confidence — even in low-resource settings.
vanessa speigle
Nov 245 min read


🌿 When Students Create, They Learn More Deeply
When students create, they don’t just show what they know — they discover how to think. Explore how Finland’s visible thinking approach transforms everyday lessons into spaces for curiosity, reflection, and creative confidence. Includes practical routines and the Rekla Visible Thinking Toolkit for CBC classrooms.
vanessa speigle
Nov 63 min read


🌿 From Reflection to Agency: How Creativity Builds Confidence and Voice in the Classroom
Creativity in the classroom is more than imagination — it’s reflection in motion. This blog explores how creative thinking builds confidence and helps students take ownership of their learning. Discover routines like Connect–Extend–Challenge and Claim–Support–Question that turn reflection into real agency in CBC and Finnish-inspired classrooms.
vanessa speigle
Nov 34 min read


🌿 From Siloed Subjects to Cross-Subject Learning: How to Plan Thematic and Phenomenon-Based Lessons
In the real world, knowledge doesn’t live in separate boxes — and neither should learning. Discover how phenomenon-based lesson design helps students connect ideas, think critically, and create meaning across subjects. 🌿
vanessa speigle
Oct 283 min read


🌱 Creativity in Every Subject: From Curiosity to Confidence
What if the most creative moment in your classroom wasn’t in art—but in math? 🌱 This reflection explores how curiosity fuels creativity and builds confidence across every subject, drawing from Finnish pedagogy and CBC principles to help teachers make learning more meaningful, imaginative, and student-led.
vanessa speigle
Oct 223 min read
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