When I was a first-year teacher, my team leader Nancy gave me this heaping box of classroom supplies. On the top, she placed a notecard with the words New Teacher Card. On the back of the notecard, she wrote a note explaining that I could play this…
At first I thought it was a teacher thing. I would ask how someone was doing and they would say, “I’m really busy.” This was often followed by a description of how little sleep they had gotten and how much grading they had done. Teachers…
At first glance, it would seem that Hagrid has all the makings of a great teacher. He is willing to take creative risks. He has a deep and passionate knowledge of his content area. And most importantly, he cares about his students. But unfortunately, content…
Limitations and challenges can be frustrating. However, they can also be the creative constraint that leads to problem-solving and divergent thinking. Over the years, I’ve learned that students love challenges that they find engaging, intriguing and meaningful. Some of these are practical and real-world. Others…
A few months ago, my son came to me to pitch a story idea. “I want a story about a superhero taco.” “You mean, like a superhero that eats tacos?” “No, a superhero taco. Like a real taco, though. Not those fake hardshell tacos.” “Got…
A few days ago, I met Manuel Herrera at MORENet. He has an amazing maker space where students engage in creative thinking on a daily basis. It’s a bastion of creativity and wonder and his passion for it is contagious. However, as we talked about…
Student inquiry is at the heart of student choice. When students are able to ask their own questions, they can chase their curiosity and tap into their own interests. They can build on their prior knowledge and build a bridge to new information that they…
Imagine you are building a self-driving car. Chances are you’ll look for a team of engineers who can figure out how to make each part work fluidly in an interconnected manner. You’d look for software engineers and mechanical engineers and experts in user interface (UI) and…
About three years ago, a student approached me before class. “Mr. Spencer, I heard that you wrote a children’s book.” I nodded. “I co-wrote it with my wife and then we self-published it.” “Can you teach me how to publish my own novel?” I launched…
I knew social media had hit mainstream the moment that my mom sent me a friend request. Suddenly Facebook had become a place where “mom” and “friend” were synonymous. I knew that Facebook had lost its cool, edgy, college vibe. Since then, Facebook has become…
