Blog - Page 46 of 50 - Spencer Education

Jun 13 2015

My Favorite Fifty Books on Creativity and Design Thinking #createchat

By John Spencer Creativity, Creativity Deconstructed No Comments

My Recommended Reading List on Creativity and Design Thinking I'm a big a fan of reading -- especially in the summertime. Later in the day, when it's blazingly hot, I usually have a quiet time. We all sprawl out on different chairs or couches and…

Jun 05 2015

Seven Ways We Can Fix the Dreaded Student Research Paper

By John Spencer Literacy No Comments

When I was a kid, I hated research papers. I hated the paint-by-numbers rules we had to follow. I hated the fact that I couldn't choose the topic or ask the questions or find the sources. I hated the notecards and the binders and everything…

Jun 01 2015

Sometimes Less Technology Means More Creativity

By John Spencer Creativity, Creativity Deconstructed One Comment

I'm a fan of digital writing. After all, I'm sitting at my computer typing right now. And yet, when it comes to my deepest writing, I nearly always scribble it out by hand. When I'm stuck, I doodle. When I plan, I sketch out webs.…

May 20 2015

Eight Stages in the Teacher Technology Journey

By John Spencer Technology and Media Literacy One Comment

A few years ago, I was a technology coach and I noticed a trend. Teachers tended to go through certain stages as they adopted and integrated technology. I have found these trends to be true of my own experience when it comes to certain platforms…

May 16 2015

I Missed This Maker Space . . . Until a Student Helped Me See It

By John Spencer Creativity No Comments

Why, yes, I am talking about AT&T Ballpark I'm passionate about seeing kids make stuff. This why I'm offering a free, short course this June called A Beginner's Guide to Design Thinking. Spaces are limited, so sign up now if you're interested. Last week, I spoke at a TEDx…

May 12 2015

Eight Ways to Keep Informational Texts Engaging

By John Spencer Technology and Media Literacy No Comments

One of the biggest complaints I hear about Common Core is the push toward informational texts. This is often accompanied by the complaint that we are no longer allowing students to read for the sake of reading. Just yesterday, a teacher said to me, "I…

May 07 2015

You Get Four Items and Forty-Five Minutes. What Will You Make?

By John Spencer Design Thinking One Comment

It all began the year I taught sixth grade ELL. I had the same group of students all day in a class that, by law, had to be hyper-structured (we had a four-hour block of reading, writing, oral language, and grammar). On Tuesday, we didn't…

Apr 30 2015

Eight Free Photo Sites That Require No Attribution

By John Spencer Uncategorized 18 Comments

I'm a strong proponent of respecting copyright. I think artists deserve to be paid for the work that they do. I'm also a fan of using Creative Commons photography in my blog, on my visual writing ideas, and in my presentations. In general, I use…

Apr 02 2015

Eight Lessons Learned in Doing Scratch Video Game Projects

By John Spencer Technology and Media Literacy 4 Comments

My students are currently working on a Scratch video game project. Walk into my second, fourth and sixth hours and you'll see a general buzz that goes from slightly noisy to intense silence. They are locked in and focussed, sometimes arguing about the best scripts…

Mar 27 2015

Four Options for Dealing With Broken Systems

By John Spencer Uncategorized 5 Comments

I don't believe that schools are broken. I know that sounds so non-innovative or whatever, but I don't care. I see amazing things that happen at my school on a regular basis. I watch what my kids have learned and I'm blown away. I see…