Years ago, my friend Chad (who tragically passed away from cancer last year) started the 21st Century Classroom initiative in our district. Teachers would be part of six-person teams where they would attend professional development, receive state-of-the-art technology, and have a learning coach who would…
Creative collaboration can be challenging at every every level of education. Sometimes the issue is work imbalance, with one student doing the majority of the work while others slack off. The term organizational psychology is “cognitive loafing.” In some cases, it can feel like one…
It’s supposed to snow this week, which reminds me of a moment four years ago when it snowed. We were from Phoenix, which meant our children had spent their lives experiencing the two seasons of blazingly hot and nice. The only thing that changed color…
My friend George Couros once said, “If students leave school less curious than when they have started, we have failed them.” I tend to agree. I’ve never heard of a cosmologist who says, “I’m done with the universe. No more questions here.” I’ve also never…
Sometimes I wish I could go back in time to visit my 9-year old self and say, “Dude, you got this. Right now, it’s hard but someday you’ll be using your voice to make art. Trust me, it gets better. Way better.” I was in…
Right now, I’m feeling the effects of social isolation. My social circle is essentially my wife and my kids. I’m only going out when necessary to go to the grocery store. This Thanksgiving will be the first in years that I don’t see friends or…
The shift toward virtual and hybrid learning can be challenging; especially around student engagement. However, sometimes the real challenge isn’t one of student engagement so much as student empowerment. In this article, we explore how teachers can design distance learning with student self-direction at the…
When we hear the terms “virtual learning” or “remote learning,” it’s easy to imagine students spending eight hours a day in front of a screen. However, as educators, we know that this approach isn’t developmentally appropriate. Children need to move around and interact with their…
In my last article, I wrote about ways that we can get to know our students in virtual and hybrid courses. I also did a webinar on building a community online. You can watch it on replay here. One of the best ways to build…
As an educator, you are a community builder. From day one, you getting to know your students on a relational level. It’s often in the little things, like sending an email the first time they miss a virtual class session. It’s what happens when you…
