Blog - Page 29 of 50 - Spencer Education

Mar 18 2019

Making The Shift from Student Engagement to Student Empowerment

By John Spencer Empowering Students, Student Choice 15 Comments

We often focus on student engagement, but student empowerment is a step further. Here, we focus on the seven shifts toward student empowerment. Two years ago, I was a chaperone for my son's fourth-grade field trip to a hands-on pioneer museum. Students learned how to…

Mar 06 2019

Dear New Teachers, You Don’t Need Be Superheroes

By John Spencer Teacher Life 3 Comments

I created the following video with my good friend Trevor Muir, who has partnered with me on the New Teacher Academy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y541aTuW5s8&t=6s Subscribe to YouTube Channel An Open Letter to New Teachers Dear new teachers, There’s a popular idea that to be a good teacher,…

Feb 25 2019

The Surprising Truth Behind Creating and Consuming

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast 4 Comments

It's easy to pit creativity and consumption against each other. However, critical consuming is vital for creative work. When you engage in critical consuming, you become more inspired and ultimately, you will create better content. Listen to the Podcast If you enjoy this blog but…

Feb 12 2019

7 Ways to Inspire Divergent Thinking in the Classroom

By John Spencer Creativity, Creativity Deconstructed 14 Comments

The world is unpredictable. The corporate ladder is now a maze, which means our students will need to think divergently. In this article, we explore how to integrate divergent thinking into our everyday classroom practices. This is an updated version of an article that was…

Feb 04 2019

Six Strategies for Tackling Perfectionism

By John Spencer Creativity, Teacher Life One Comment

The following is a variation on a post I created for the New Teacher Academy. Each year, I ask my pre-service teachers to describe what teaching will be like when they move from surviving to thriving. Common themes emerge. "Every student will listen each time…

Jan 28 2019

Podcasting Can Work in Any Subject

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast 2 Comments

Last week, I shared why student podcasting is a great idea. Podcasting is a powerful way for students to share their voice with the world. Along the way, they learn to communicate, engage in critical thinking, and go through the design process as they ultimately…

Jan 21 2019

5 Reasons to Pilot Student Podcasting Projects

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast 2 Comments

I just learned that New York City doesn't actually have alleys. Okay, they have a few private alleys. However, after listening to the latest 99% Invisible podcast, I learned that the idea of alleys throughout NYC is a bit of a myth. Does this matter? Probably…

Jan 14 2019

Seven Strategies for Building Empathy in Students

By John Spencer Creativity, Design Thinking, Podcast 2 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB-M4dvAgWs&t=64s Subscribe to YouTube Channel A few days ago, my son said something that surprised me. He said, "Dad, we have the best cafeteria lady at our school." And I said, "Wait, what?" But then he went on to describe how this woman chose to…

Dec 10 2018

10 Teacher-Tested Strategies to Engage Reluctant Writers

By John Spencer Creativity, Literacy, Podcast 11 Comments

A few years ago, my son opened a Google Document and started typing. I asked him about it and his eyes lit up as he described the shared story he was writing with classmates. This was the first day of summer break but he was…

Dec 05 2018

4 Surprising Truths About the Creative Journey

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast 3 Comments

About a year ago, I watched La La Land for the first time. It was as enchanting and mesmerizing as people had told me. And it struck a chord, in terms of the deeply human longing to chase your dreams, captured in the lines: Here's to…