Igniting Awe in Learning

Come mothers and fathers,  Throughout the land And don’t criticize What you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’ Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand For the times they are a-changin’ - Bob Dylan My daughter is dual enrolled in high school and college. Today was her first day of the Spring term for her college class. I'm jealous, because she chose "History of Rock Music" for her history elective. To spend time learning about Jimmy Plant, Ringo Starr, and Janis Joplin instead of reading the Louisiana Purchase agreement? Heck yea, sign me up! In my mind, I pictured her walking in to an eclectic environment hosted by an aging wannabe rock star, or perhaps even Jack Black. I expected to walk home to a daughter spouting off about hidden messages in lyrics, or sharing about the seedy underworld of the British rock movement. Or perhaps we'd argue if the Beatles h...

This post was originally published on my old blog (September, 2013). I think the content is still worthy of conversation: As we move towards a BYOD program in our district, one of the questions that comes up is, “How can I ask students to do something if they all have different tools for the job?” It’s interesting how we assume every student must have the same tool. I watch Project Runway every week (I know, guilty pleasure!), and each week the designers are given a task to complete. Last week they had to design performance wear.  After the task is described, designers are given 30 minutes to sketch an idea – some use an HP tablet, while others use colored pencils and a sketchpad. They are then given access to fabrics, but not the same fabric of course. Each designer chooses a fabric that matches their vision for the task. Once they have their materials, each designer must come up with a pattern, and then create their look. At no point in this challenge are designers lined u...