Always Play the New Teacher Card Blog Post

For the last month, I’ve traveled everywhere from Hawaii to Washington (short drive, actually) to Indiana to South Carolina delivering keynotes and leading workshops on empowering students with voice, choice, and ownership. Each time, I’ve had the opportunity to hear stories about the design thinking…

It’s Okay to Do That Same Epic Project Next Year Blog Post

It was twelve years ago when I sat down with a journal and began debriefing my first full year of going project-based. I had a list of what went well, what went poorly, and what things I wanted to try out the next year. As…

The Case for More Recess Blog Post

We tend to view recess as a break from learning. However, free play is actually a vital part of the learning process. Play boosts divergent thinking, flexible thinking, and creativity. It helps students learn critical social-emotional skills. Unfortunately, in many schools, students are losing recess…

Spark Curiosity and Help Students Ask Better Questions Blog Post

In the previous article, we explored the Look, Listen, and Learn phase of the LAUNCH process for design thinking. In this article, we explore the second phase,  Ask Tons of Questions.  When students are able to ask their own questions, they can chase their curiosity…

Empowering Students with Voice and Choice Page

Empowering Students with Voice and Choice Subscribe to My Channel We want students to be creative, critical thinkers. We want them to rewrite the rules as life-long learners and critical thinking citizens. It's a mindset of self-direction and student ownership and it begins by empowering...

Projects Page

Projects and Resources If you're starting out with project-based learning, design thinking, or inquiry-based learning, you might be thinking, "where do I even start?" You might want to try one of these free projects, mini-projects, or other classroom resources. Most of these projects include slideshows,...

Making The Shift from Student Engagement to Student Empowerment Blog Post

We often focus on student engagement, but student empowerment is a step further. Here, we focus on the seven shifts toward student empowerment. Two years ago, I was a chaperone for my son’s fourth-grade field trip to a hands-on pioneer museum. Students learned how to…

The Surprising Truth Behind Creating and Consuming Blog Post

It’s easy to pit creativity and consumption against each other. However, critical consuming is vital for creative work. When you engage in critical consuming, you become more inspired and ultimately, you will create better content. Listen to the Podcast If you enjoy this blog but…

7 Ways to Inspire Divergent Thinking in the Classroom Blog Post

The world is unpredictable. The corporate ladder is now a maze, which means our students will need to think divergently. In this article, we explore how to integrate divergent thinking into our everyday classroom practices. This is an updated version of an article that was…

Podcasting Can Work in Any Subject Blog Post

Last week, I shared why student podcasting is a great idea. Podcasting is a powerful way for students to share their voice with the world. Along the way, they learn to communicate, engage in critical thinking, and go through the design process as they ultimately…