Blog - Page 36 of 49 - Spencer Education

Jan 12 2017

How Action Research Sparks Innovation and Boosts Creativity in the Classroom

By John Spencer Creativity, Innovation, Podcast 5 Comments

What happens when you give students exemplars? Do they simply copy the pre-existing examples? Do they fail to take creative risks? Do they internalize the idea that their work must fit a previous model? Does it implicitly tell students "this is what it should look…

Dec 16 2016

Six Videos to Spark Creative Thinking

By John Spencer Creativity, Design Thinking One Comment

Limitations and challenges can be frustrating. However, they can also be the creative constraint that leads to problem-solving and divergent thinking. Over the years, I've learned that students love challenges that they find engaging, intriguing and meaningful. Some of these are practical and real-world. Others…

Dec 08 2016

Fake News is a Real Problem. Here’s How Students Can Solve It.

By John Spencer Podcast, Technology and Media Literacy 4 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/embed/xf8mjbVRqao Subscribe to YouTube Channel I used to teach a class called photojournalism. I usually referred to it as "digital journalism," because people assumed we were a photography class. Students created videos, podcasts, documentaries, and blogs with the goal of sharing their work with an…

Nov 27 2016

Is it time to reinvent the wheel?

By John Spencer Creativity One Comment

It’s Thanksgiving evening and I trudge up the stairs with every anticipation of writing a post about food and family and gratitude. I pull up my chair and flip open my MacBook. A black screen appears. I tap on the buttons. Nothing happens. I click…

Nov 25 2016

How I’m Using Design Thinking for My #NaNoWriMo Novel Project

By John Spencer Design Thinking, Podcast No Comments

A few months ago, my son came to me to pitch a story idea. "I want a story about a superhero taco." "You mean, like a superhero that eats tacos?" "No, a superhero taco. Like a real taco, though. Not those fake hardshell tacos." "Got…

Nov 24 2016

I’m Thankful for Teachers

By John Spencer Podcast One Comment

It's late morning on a Wednesday. I have a string of meetings and a stack of paperwork. Right now, I'm thinking of the classroom. I'm remembering the way we would do a maker project on the day before Thanksgiving. We were learning, but it never…

Nov 08 2016

10 Things That Happen When Students Engage in Design Thinking

By John Spencer Design Thinking 23 Comments

In a recent post, I wrote about why I want to see students become innovators: Subscribe to YouTube Channel Unfortunately, the system isn't designed for innovation. For years, schools have been stuck in a one-size-fits-all factory model, where students passively consume content. Some people will point…

Nov 04 2016

It’s Time to Celebrate the Small Stuff

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast 2 Comments

When my grandpa died, my grandma told me that she missed the small stuff. She had plenty of photo albums packed full of memories, but what she missed the most was waking up next to him in the morning. I remember visiting her on a hard…

Nov 02 2016

Innovation May Be a Buzzword, But It’s a Term I’ve Grown to Love

By John Spencer Innovation, Podcast 2 Comments

Subscribe to YouTube Channel I used to hate the word “innovative.” See those quotes right there around the word? Those are actually air quotes that I would use whenever I used the term. “It’s a buzzword,” I would say. “It’s overused,” I would point out.…

Oct 30 2016

Start with the Mindset, Not the Space

By John Spencer Podcast One Comment

Yesterday, I got the chance to lead a discussion on makerspaces. I felt out of place as a facilitator, because I've never actually created a maker space. I know my limitations; and that includes redesigning the physical space of the classroom. If you asked me…