What are Young Originals? Inspired by Adam Grant’s best-selling Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World, I developed this term to identify the non-conformist students who occupy our classrooms every day. Continue reading The Young Originals: Non-conformists in the classroom
“I feel like genius hour may be more important than any of us think. If we only follow the standard curriculum and don’t explore learn what we want to learn and see who we really are, all we will be are a bunch of standard children and no one wants that.” Continue reading This is what Genius Hour means to students
If we don’t challenge students with queries that dig deep, we limit ourselves in many ways. One is that we limit their ability to see themselves as critical thinkers, as capable of answering big questions. The second is that we limit the opportunity to hear their voices. As Shalaby says, the teacher is the outsider in a classroom of children, not the other way around. In a classroom of children, the restraint of children’s voices is chosen ignorance. Continue reading Learning as the intersection of work and play, part 3: Queries, freedom, and bushwhacking
Sometimes it’s important to run directly and cross the finish line, to test yourself, to gauge where you are. More often, however, it is critical to explore different routes, to try new strategies, review certain courses, to take the adventure where you need it to go. Continue reading Learning as the intersection of work and play, Part 2: Run for the race, not the finish line
As I have progressed as a teacher, the most valuable teaching and learning accomplished in my classroom have always felt like play, even when it is work. I think that true learning is the intersection of work and play. If the goal of teaching is to enhance learning, than our goal should be to create that intersection of work and play every day. Continue reading What is learning? The intersection of work and play
The Lost Teacher 