What is the future of the school "library"? Last month I took my stab with "Replace 'Library' With 'Portal of Idea Flow'?" on Edutopia. It built on ideas shared by Beth Holland and others, on discussions we see all over the country/world about how these library spaces might evolve and be re-imagined in the future [...]
Once in a while I get the pleasure of working deeply with students, asking the adults to sit back and watch how their students expand and rise to unbounded, untested, unknown mini-challenges. That was the kind of day we had at the Shipley School last fall; here are just a few minutes out of our [...]
This is the third post in a series that asks "why is Silicon Valley the Magic Kingdom of innovation, and what lessons can K-12 schools learn about how innovation succeeds in times of rapid change?" If you have a management team or board that is asking "how do we know we are actually becoming more [...]
What questions should schools ask as they embark on a process of innovative change? What are critical expectations they must have of their community? What are the big challenges they will face? Here is a lis of questions and challenges you can use to provoke the discussions of "are we ready" and "are we serious" [...]
What if we could evolve a new "teacher" who was 1/2 great leader-learner and 1/2 entrepreneurial start-up fiend? What if we could weave those two strands of personal and professional DNA together? Isn't this the model we want our students to follow? Schools that are moving quickly off of the traditional assembly line model of [...]
Why is Silicon Valley the Magic Kingdom of innovation, and what lessons can K-12 schools learn about how innovation succeeds in times of rapid change? I have been pondering and studying this and will write a series of short blogs based on the findings of some long-standing experts from the Valley, translated into ideas and [...]
Another great #satchatwc twitter chat yesterday focusing on our roles as leaders in schools, an outpouring of ideas and ideals about the importance of leadership. There was a lot of good advice and many poster quotes. But I left feeling that sometimes we miss one of the main points; there is still an enormous amount of implication [...]
I gave a keynote and hosted a deep dive workshop today at the inaugural ATLIS conference for technology educators. One huge highlight: attendees in the deep dive did everything from creating strategic pathways to building a deep learning prototype for students...and almost all of them self-identify as "IT" people. We are ALL educator-leader-teachers, and we proved [...]
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 [...]
I recently received an RFP from an outstanding school that wants to truly engage their community in meaningful change. They are looking for a consultant to help on the work, and in discussing my thoughts with a colleague, she suggested I redact my response and post it for general interest. Here it is: First [...]