One of the pleasures of research is to observe longitudinal change; revisiting a school from time to time provides that window. It was my pleasure to visit the campus of Colorado Academy for the third time in just over a year, and to see evidence of some of the courageous decisions they have made about [...]
When I first thought to teach students the tools of their own self-evolution as learners, using The Art of War as a toolkit, it struck many educators as quirky, to say the least. Still does. But when I get to spend a few hours with students, immersed in the simple, powerful lessons that I have [...]
Ending a POWERFUL two weeks of interactions with roughly 700 students, teachers, school administrators, and parents. I was at schools and conferences where educators gather to grow as professionals. What did these events have in common? We asked questions that many had not asked before. We included voices that are often not included in planning [...]
“You made my head hurt”, the 10th grader told me during reflection of our three-hour learning block on how to observe, analyze, understand, and communicate about systems. He assured me he meant it in a good way, and that comment immediately went into my top-five all time moments as a teacher. It was my honor [...]
I was one of a small group attending in person a Google Hangout this morning hosted by OpenIDEO to discuss their current Open Challenge: How might we inspire young people to cultivate their creative confidence? Open IDEO has created a number of these challenges, where educators are invited to post inspirational events, ideas, connections, and [...]
Could we create a valuable college BA degree for $10K? And what might that mean for K-12 education? Anya Kamenetz has written an important article that argues we can create that vastly more affordable experience in college. (Thanks Will Richardson for Tweeting it out.) I have skimmed it and now am going back to review [...]
Please join me, the faculty of five independent schools, and three authoritative voices from outside the traditional mainstream of K-12 education, via Twitter feed for a unique conversation about the direction of learning in the years ahead. Next Monday, August 26, from 10:15-11:45 Pacific Time, more than 300 educators from Alverno High, Mayfield Senior, St. [...]
I just read an important recent post by my friend Jonathan Martin and will not reprise it all here. But I want to re-post the video he included from the ATC21S working group. It was not long after I first heard the term "21st Century skills" and realized it referred to the kind of transformative learning [...]
As many of you know, I formally resigned my position at Francis Parker School this spring after almost a decade and a half in a variety of leadership positions. I hope to continue my association with Parker, which my great aunt and uncle founded 100 years ago, in informal ways. For now, and following on [...]
So many models of problem solving start at the end! The creators of this thinking have never looked at the roots of the issue. Solid buildings require foundations; sure they are not pretty and no one sees them and they are hard to dig, but it is the foundation that supports all else. Problem solving [...]