My friend Josh Stumpenhorst once wrote an excellent post about the chasm between what teachers are told to do and what teachers can actually accomplish in the system. One line in particular stood out to me. “They will insist that innovation, creativity, risk-taking and failure…
When my oldest son was five, he asked me whether the leaves were falling because the air was getting colder or because the sun was setting earlier. We gathered leaves. We conducted experiments. We looked at maps of leaves and sunlight and temperature. He wasn’t…
This week, I asked my cohort to analyze different unit planning models. This is a challenging part of the graduate classes, when teachers are learning the nitty gritty craft of creating units and lessons from scratch. I walked over to the group analyzing the design…
I still remember the day. I was in my first year of teaching and I sat there holding my printed lesson plan. This was supposed to be my greatest lesson of the school year. I had planned it for hours, revising various aspects of it…
The LAUNCH Cycle: A K-12 Design Thinking Framework 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…
Lorem amet elit libero sit ipsum hendrerit libero sit consectetur lorem lorem link The LAUNCH Cycle Visuals from the Blog Ridiculous Education Puns
When I go home, I’m no longer a dad. I transform into a sidekick to the world’s coolest superhero. I become a nurse to a stuffed animal surgeon. I get to help an architect and a builder in forts made from couch cushions. I become…
My goal is simple. I want to make something new each day. Sometimes, I make stuff. Sometimes, I make a difference. On a good day, I get to do both. I often use design thinking as a framework for my creative work. If you’re interested in any…
When I was a kid, my brother and I built a “roller coaster” in the backyard with a wagon, some scraps of wood, and tons of pipes. Was it safe? Probably not. Did it ever work properly? Not really. But it didn’t matter. We were…
Toward the end of the year, I remember feeling absolutely exhausted as a teacher. Once the testing is over and the pressure is gone, there’s this sense of relief. However, this was nothing compared to what my eighth graders experienced. You could see it in…
