Want to transform learning? If your school has or can raise $20 million dollars, build a new set of classrooms. Lacking a profound and sustained commitment to changing mindset, pedagogy, and program in how to USE those classrooms, you have just made a enormously wasteful decision. Want to really transform learning? I repeat several of the [...]
Here is what keeps me up at night: this 3D holographic learning is ALREADY a reality. How is your school or district preparing to intersect with a near-future where this is common place? If not, how can "school" be the place where students prepare for their own futures? How can we even put this kind [...]
A place where students can gain self awareness into their unique value; where they can see how they might make a positive impact on the world; and where they can tinker to learn about interests they may never have uncovered. Sounds to me like a darn good mission statement for any school! These are the guiding [...]
Why does your school community still charge itself for expensive textbooks when fully accredited resources are available for free? For some schools the answer is simple: they are controlled by local and state requirements to use certain books. For other schools where these overly prescriptive regulations do not apply, news out of the Hewlett Foundation [...]
As promised, I made a short, very informal video of my visit with Hobsonville Point Secondary School in New Zealand. I wrote about HPSS last week with the comment that they are really an exemplar of what high schools can and might look like in the future. If you are interested in space, architecture, and [...]
This is HUGE for these kids. Ortiz Middle School (#ortizms) is a traditionally poorly performing school in Santa Fe, NM with almost 100% underserved students. Exactly one year ago, the overwhelmingly predominant learning style was "sit and get"; students lacked engagement and enthusiasm; they politely did their worksheets and listened to their teachers. The teachers decided to take [...]
One year ago this week teaching and learning at the underserved, underperforming Ortiz Middle School in Santa Fe, NM was pretty much what you would expect: students lining up quietly in the hallways; sitting quietly in rows and pods of desks; completing worksheets; raising hands one at a time to answer questions or read a [...]
What is the future of libraries at schools? Does the word "library", rooted as it is in the concept of books as the primary transactional medium of knowledge, limit our imagination? Rather than a space where we store books and study quietly, might we evolve a place to imagine, dream, create, manage, and share knowledge across [...]
How are we doing on the path to deeper learning? At the ASCD gathering in Houston I sat in on a presentation by McRel International, the large education consulting group out of Denver. They shared some fascinating data, and with their permission I am sharing some highlights with you. Over the last decade, McRel consultants have [...]
Can a non-charter public school in California, with near-the-bottom public funding per student, truly transform learning? As you know I have been closely following Design 39 Campus in Poway Unified, where the guiding principles are: Nurture creative confidence Practice design thinking Encourage inquiry Connect globally Use technology Promote courage Instill a growth mindset Well, here [...]