Blog - Page 16 of 49 - Spencer Education

Jul 12 2021

Empowering Readers from Day One

By John Spencer Empowered Readers, Podcast 4 Comments

This is the first article I'm doing in a summer series on Empowering Readers. If you want to take a deeper dive into the topic, I also have the Empowered Readers self-paced course that I co-created with literacy expert Bonnie Hamer. It officially launches today.…

Jun 24 2021

What will we take away from this year?

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast, Teacher Life One Comment

Nothing about this evening fit the description of a dance recital. Not the parking lot or the lawn chairs or the sound of the cars whizzing past. I sat in jeans and a sweatshirt, eating a slice of pizza off a thin paper plate as…

Jun 11 2021

Finding Rest and Recovery After a Hard Year

By John Spencer Creativity, Teacher Life One Comment

Teachers have been amazing this year. Many of them taught virtually for the first time ever and spent their free time learning new strategies and expanding their professional knowledge. Despite the lack of physical space, they cultivated a positive classroom community and proved that social…

May 31 2021

Stephanie Higgs on How to Integrate Creative Thinking Into Daily Classroom Practice

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast One Comment

In this latest podcast episode, Stephanie Higgs shares how she has integrated intentional creative thinking into her daily routine with students. She also shares her journey from from working at a museum school up to her current role as a gifted education teacher and coach….

May 25 2021

5 Ways Creative Work Is Like Working Out

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast 3 Comments

Creative work is inherently fun. However, sometimes it's also frustrating, slow, and difficult. In other words, it's a lot like working out. We explore this connection in the following article and podcast. Listen to the Podcast If you enjoy this blog but you’d like to…

May 18 2021

Getting Started with Content Curation in the Classroom

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast, Technology and Media Literacy 37 Comments

Content curation is a vital part of the creative process. In this blog post and podcast, we explore why curation matters and how we can help students learn how to engage in the curation process. Listen to the Podcast If you enjoy this blog but…

May 10 2021

Manuel Herrera on how to make your thinking visible for deeper learning - picture of Manuel smiling

Manuel Herrera on How to Use Visual Thinking for Deeper Learning

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast 2 Comments

In this latest podcast episode, I interview Manuel Herrera on the idea of visual thinking and how to make it a reality in the K-12 classroom. Manuel shares specific strategies and key insights to help you on your visual thinking and sketchnoting journey. Listen to…

May 04 2021

Geek Out Projects: My Approach to Genius Hour and 20% Time in the Language Arts Classroom

By John Spencer Creativity, Literacy, Podcast, Student Choice 8 Comments

There are so many different ways we can empower students to own the learning; from owning the assessment process to doing choice menus and choice boards to having students engage in project-based learning. In this article, we explore how Geek Out Blogs allow students to…

Apr 28 2021

How Do You Teach to the Standards When Doing Project-Based Learning?

By John Spencer Podcast, Project-Based Learning 11 Comments

It’s easy to remember the highlight reels of the project-based approach I used when I taught eighth grade. I think about the moment we finished our second mural and my students were so excited they started spontaneously cheering or the moment students asked thoughtful questions…

Apr 19 2021

Seven Myths Keeping Teachers from Implementing Creative Projects

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast, Project-Based Learning 9 Comments

Every year, I ask my pedagogy students about their most memorable learning experience as a learner, whether it was in school or out in the "real world." Nearly every example involves a creative project. These were the moments when learning stuck and often it was…