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
The best teachers choose the perfect gifts (most of the time)
In my opinion, giving presents can be much more rewarding than receiving them. When you give a great gift – a gift that the recipient really wants and needs – it feels amazing. It feels like you have the inherent power to improve someone’s life. What can be more rewarding than that. Unfortunately, giving the wrong gift, especially when you thought it was the right gift, can be incredibly disappointing, for everyone. Continue reading The best teachers choose the perfect gifts (most of the time)
The Glass Classroom Challenge
How might we create a teaching challenge that encourages the passion and joy we hope to see in the classroom? Continue reading The Glass Classroom Challenge
The Inspiration of a Glass Classroom
For nine months in 1915 in the city of San Francisco, the Panama Pacific International Exhibition hosted 18 million visitors from all over the world. They saw a Ford Model T assembly line, a model of the recently completed Panama Canal, brand new planes, new foods grown in California, and a glass classroom. Continue reading The Inspiration of a Glass Classroom
Take your time, Be impatient
There is a challenge in education in which we must show patience – with students, parents, fellow teachers – but if we want to accomplish certain goals, we have to work hard, even impatiently, rather than waiting for them to happen. Finding that balance is a challenge, but it is also important to improving your student’s experiences and your teaching.
5 ways to design a Mistake-Driven classroom
We often hear teacher-led or student-led when describing classrooms, mistakes are an essential characteristic of learning. We don’t simply walk into learning. Even when someone guides us there, we typically have to make a mistake before it sinks in. As a teacher, I know that my students will make mistakes, and lots of them. Therefore, if I am not teaching them how to respond to a mistake, then I am not teaching. Continue reading 5 ways to design a Mistake-Driven classroom
