As a former middle school teacher and current full-time professor and best-selling author, I’m a big believer in empowering students (and teachers) through the power of creativity. Whether you sign up for one of my online courses, enroll in one of my cohorts or invite me to spend time with your staff, I promise you’ll walk away with a fresh perspective and new ideas to transform your classroom.
“We need kids to be creators, not consumers.” I’ve heard this statement so many times at conference and in Twitter chats and in blog posts. I get it. We want students to be creative. But is consumption actually a bad thing? See, every person I…
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When I was a kid, I remember hearing that computers would replace teachers. I didn't like this idea, unless they could guarantee that my teacher would be like Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, technologists promised us that computers would radically transform our…
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A few years back, I was sitting in an office with my best friend Javier, scribbling out a web of ideas for our upcoming STEM Camp and Lab School. “What if we . . .” He stopped mid-sentence and looked at his phone. “You were…
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A teacher emailed me earlier this week asking a question about design thinking. "I don't have much technology in my classroom but I want to have a maker space and I want to try design thinking. Any ideas?" My first thought is that some of…
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When I first shared the LAUNCH Cycle publicly, my friend George Couros offered some gentle pushback. He questioned whether or not it was necessary to wait until the end of the design thinking cycle to share with the world. So, it leaves me with this lingering…
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The term "design thinking" is often attached to maker spaces and STEM labs. However, design thinking is bigger than STEM. It begins with the premise of tapping into student curiosity and allowing them to create, test and re-create until they eventually ship what they…
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With the click of a button, I can send my work to the entire world. It can feel empowering. I tap a screen and suddenly my ideas can reach a larger audience. But what if that’s not always ideal? True, audience matters. But so does…
I love geeking out on the creative process. I love seeing the connections I experience in teaching, in writing, in developing web platforms, and in making sketchy videos. However, I also enjoy thinking through creativity in a context that's foreign to me. See, I'm not…
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I believe that writing should be fun. It's not merely a functional activity we have to get through in life. I believe that persuasive, informational, and functional writing should be as fun as writing a story. I believe that all writing is inherently creative and…
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Often, in working with pre-service teachers, someone will ask about the “right” way to do something. The educational system throws around words like “best practices” and “highly qualified,” but it doesn’t really work that way. There is no guidebook or instruction manual or how-to video…

