There are two reasons that organizations change: because they have to or because they want to. Proactive change from a position of strength is always preferable to reactive change at time of stress. I really enjoy working with schools that recognize the need to change and engage the process, even though some in their community [...]
What an honor and pleasure to work with educators who have dedicated a large piece of their lives to the fulfillment of children! And all the better when I find a group well rested after summer, ready to dive back in, not only to the work of the upcoming school year, but with a passion [...]
I just saw a Tweet from thought leader and blogger Scott McLeod calling for short posts on technology leadership to celebrate the anniversary of his blog. I am on the road so this will indeed be short, but I have a lot of respect for the work and sharing that Scott promotes, so want to [...]
Can a traditional, low-performing school serving a community of impoverished students from families largely disconnected to the urgency of education quickly transform into a place of deep, student-owned, passion-based learning? Many of the schools I visit don’t face these challenges; they have the luxuries of choice, independence, and resources, and only need to overcome their [...]
I have had a full spring/summer of reading, and thought I would pass along the following recommendations (most of which came to me through recommendations of others!): Some of these I have already blogged on, so have created the link to those reviews: A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger Creative Confidence by David and [...]
What if every teacher and student in your school/district/county/state/country had access to a shared, fully searchable knowledge base of educational content, ideas, resources, curriculum, and links? What if they could both access the knowledge base and contribute to it? What if they could follow and share with other users who have common interests, and report [...]
Shouldn’t our learning be attuned to the rhythms of the world around us rather than isolated from them? And not just at the margins, but at the core? How many teachers, given a blank score upon which to compose their lesson-learning would select the same march they taught 20 years ago, and how many would choose to [...]
One of the big obstacles to school innovation I have found is the "dam" of college admissions and college entrance exams that focus on lower-order knowledge acquisition and regurgitation. Anecdotal evidence points to the fact that if a good school de-emphasizes AP's and college test prep and emphasizes deep, rigorous, student-centered, project-focused learning, their students will be attractive [...]
As followers of this blog know, I find THE key to transforming learning is painting the picture for adult educator-leaders, and then giving them the resources to re-tool and create dynamic, flexible, adaptive, engaged learning ecosystems. We are seeing a mini-explosion of professional development events aimed at meeting this critical need. Schools and districts realize [...]
What schools in the San Francisco Bay Area are burning brightly with brushfires of innovation? Might I come visit, observe, reflect, and share with your faculty and/or students? I normally charge a daily consulting fee, but maybe we chalk this trip up to research? I am honored to be a featured speaker and have a [...]