Inquiry & Reflection for Better Learning
I’m working this weekend with the Compose Our World project, and we’re digging in hard to the curricular units that we proposed we’d develop in that work. As we do so, we’re struggling with notions of when to allow for choice and when to constrain it. Constraints aren’t evil – they can be quite helpful […]
Read More On Constraints, Road Maps, and Driving DirectionsEarlier this evening, I had a conversation with a colleague who is thinking hard, very hard, about how to teach and perpetuate SEL ((That’s Social Emotional Learning, of course. )) principles in classrooms in deep and meaningful ways for children. We ended up talking because I pushed a bit to ask that, as she creates resources […]
Read More On Agency, and #whyIwriteEarlier today, I sat in on a meeting of the St. Vrain Blended Libraries Action Research Group. That’s a big name, but the group is a group of teacher librarians, school and district folks, and administrators who are rethinking the role of the library in our 21st Century schools. They’re standing up an action research […]
Read More Here I Go AgainTonight, we held our first in a series of informal meet ups intended to help build collegiality and shared expertise around being a 1:1 school district. Michelle named these events iPad Geekouts, or, for short, iGO. During tonight’s event, I was responsible for facilitating some sharing and conversation around shifts and issues relating to technology […]
Read More “Don’t Use the iPad Just to Use the iPad”Recently, a project I spent some time on last spring and summer came to life. Teaching in the Connected Learning Classroom is now available for free download as a PDF or a 99 cent eBook via the Amazon Kindle store. I’m biased, but I think you should take a peek. The goal of the project […]
Read More Teaching in the Connected Learning ClassroomWe’re reading Unmistakable Impact by Jim Knight together as a large team at work. This is the third post in my series on that reading and reflection. This month’s chapter is on coaching, both the role of the coach and the practices and habits an instructional coach can use to make a difference in his or her work. […]
Read More On Coaching and ChoiceI’m excited to announce that we’ll be kicking off our programming and opening the doors of the Discovery Center for Make/Hack/Play at Spark! Discovery Preschool on Saturday, September 14th, from 10am to 2 pm here in Frederick, Colorado. If you’re in the neighborhood, you should come make something and bring your family. Admission is free […]
Read More Come to the Grand Opening of the Discovery Center for Make/Hack/PlayProfessional learning that dehumanizes its participants carries the seeds of its own failure. When a select few do the thinking for others, when people are forced to comply with outside pressure with little or no input, when teachers asking genuine questions are labeled resistors, when leaders act without a true understanding of teachers’ day-to-day classroom […]
Read More Oh, the HumanityI was sitting in a meeting today with some administrators, and we were discussing what we were looking for when we were looking for the thoughtful use of technology to support learning. What, we wondered, does the thoughtful use of digital tools for learning look like? And that’s a good question to spend some time […]
Read More Don't Make It About the (Digital) Tools When You Want It To Be About the LearningI’m sitting at the airport this morning waiting for a flight to Las Vegas for the NCTE 2012 Annual Convention. I’m eager to be in conversation and community with friends and colleagues. And I’m also excited to find my conference schedule a little lighter than in recent trips, which means I get to do something […]
Read More Off to NCTE