Sticky post
After the game: Talking to young athletes
A few weeks ago, I went to watch a few high school basketball games. Aside from the fact that there were four games in a row, it was a typical day in a high school gymnasium. There was a mix of great moves, bad passes, off balance shots, and whistles blowing followed by fans yelling. In each of the games, high school basketball players showed … Continue reading After the game: Talking to young athletes
My Work-Life, Technology-Humanity (Im)balance
I know I’m not the first to say this, but something clicked for me tonight. I feel more disconnected than my parents ever were. I feel like I can’t go through a day anymore without hearing about how kids are disconnected from humanity because of their reliance on technology. Continue reading My Work-Life, Technology-Humanity (Im)balance
5 tips for new teachers (plus 3 books to read)
After the first six to eight weeks of school, I am wondering about the many new teachers out there. There was so much advice on twitter and elsewhere. I hope it helped, but I also know that for me, the second six weeks of school were harder than the first six, because at that point, I realized how much support I needed. Plus, I had … Continue reading 5 tips for new teachers (plus 3 books to read)
The importance of beliefs, and changing them
Beliefs are critical to success. The ability to change beliefs is equally important to success. As educators, we need to remember that all of us are capable of making significant shifts in beliefs, and that children are particularly malleable. As I write this, those statements feels obvious, but I also know from experience that certain students, with certain challenges, can overwhelm us with a sense … Continue reading The importance of beliefs, and changing them
The Ideal Real World
After reading George Couros’s blog On the “Real World”, which includes an amazing excerpt from an Alice Keeler post from 2015, I felt inspired. Alice sheds a new light on the ‘real world’ argument often given to or by teachers. George says that “you can use the ‘real world’ as an argument, but not an excuse.” I am going to go one step further here, … Continue reading The Ideal Real World
Teaching for Tomorrow (Literally, tomorrow)
Fortunately, as a Quaker school, we spend time each week in meeting for worship – this is time spent in shared silence, often spent reflecting on attempting to understand our many experiences. In Quakerism, we also focus on the belief of continuing revelation – the belief that “new truth is revealed to us as we continue our spiritual journeys individually and with one another.” (quoted … Continue reading Teaching for Tomorrow (Literally, tomorrow)
Reflection + PLN = Innovation
This past April, I signed up for the Innovative Teaching Academy. Prior to the course, I thought of myself as an innovative educator, looking for new ideas and trying them out in my classroom. Some worked, some didn’t. George Couros’s criteria for innovation is ‘new and better.’ Being new isn’t good enough; it has to be better. Most importantly, it has to create a better learning experience … Continue reading Reflection + PLN = Innovation
