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.
Why Balance Is Critical for Creative Work Blog Post
Earlier this week, my friend George Couros wrote a wonderful post about seeing the value in balance and it had me thinking about the role of balance in creativity and teaching. Years ago, my friend Wayne gave me some great advice about balance and self-care….
Five Structures for Helping Students Learn Project Management Blog Post
If we want students to think like artists, entrepreneurs, and engineers, they need the chance to design real projects. But this also requires students to learn how to engage in project management. The following is a short video on the project management process: Subscribe to…
Ten Old-School Tech Skills Your Students Never Had to Deal With Blog Post
I was born in the Ice Age, when Ice Cube, Ice-T, and Vanilla Ice were all the rage. If you had told me as a child that Ice-T would someday play a cop on TV, I would have thought you were crazy. As a kid,…
Five Ways to Boost Metacognition In the Classroom Blog Post
If we want students to develop into critical thinking, lifelong learners, we need them to develop metacognitive skills. Metacognition is vital for helping students become self-directed learners (both self-managers and self-starters). It will help them navigate the complexities of a changing world and it will…
Five Key Takeaways from the LAUNCH Academy #launchacademy Blog Post
A.J. Juliani and I led our first ever LAUNCH Academy last week. At first, I was nervous and even overwhelmed by the epic feel of the ARC building. Seriously, this looks like something out of Hogwarts. (Picture by Autumn Elizabeth) But if the building was epic,…
Using Design Thinking to Innovate in Your Own Practice Blog Post
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to deliver an opening keynote and closing talk for EdEx, a conference in Eindhoven (in the Netherlands). When Jochem first shared his idea of a weeklong design expedition, I imagined teachers working in a makerspace, designing a…
Ten Vintage Ideas to Spark Innovation in Your Classroom Blog Post
The Astrodome was a modern miracle, a Space Age wonder, with a glass dome, high-tech air-conditioning, and the world’s biggest scoreboard. When it opened in 1965, reporters dubbed it the “8th Wonder of the World.” (Wilson, 1965) This was the future. No more bad weather…
Students Need to Solve Real Problems Blog Post
In the 1980s, somebody decided that haircuts were way too messy. So, they combined a hair trimmer with a vacuum cleaner and we ended up with the Flowbee. I remember begging my parents for a Flowbee and they said “no,” because they thought I would…
What the Netherlands Taught Me About Design Thinking Blog Post
Last week, I stepped off the train and walked into the bustling streets of Eindhoven. I had never been to the Netherlands, much less Europe, so I became the obnoxious American taking quick snapshots, attempting to soak up the feel of the city. My first…