Igniting Awe in Learning

Write about your summer vacation. How many of you wrote on that topic, or something very similar, when you were in school? How many of you wrote about it many, many times? Honestly, I can't remember a first day of school that did not include a summer vacation activity. Now take a moment and ask yourself, what does this focus on summer vacation say about the culture of learning at your school, or in your classroom? More specifically: How does this make students feel who don't have awesome summer stories to share? What about those who depend on school for basic safety and needs like the free lunch program? Where is the joy of learning if everyone is counting down to leave school? Mark Church, co-author of Making Learning Visible , presented at Harvard's Project Zero four questions we must consider when looking at the learning transcript. These questions are critical if we are to empower all students to reach their genius potential.  As Ron Ritchhart,...

Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard about the solar eclipse that happened today.  Across the country people were standing outside with their ISO-certified glasses, or their pinhole cameras, or just looking at the shadows poking through the trees. Strangers became friendly outside office buildings as they showed off their homemade tools and warned each other about the dangers of staring at the sun. Children held their paper glasses tightly to their face, while gleefully pointing at the event as it unfolded in the sky. And yet, there were also plenty of students kept inside today. Many schools, fearful of becoming schools for the blind, kept students locked behind the safety of their classroom walls, resorting to NASA live feeds to simulate the experience. I'm not sure why, in public education, there is this fear of providing students with experiences. I spent the past ten years of my career promoting digital citizenship as an important curriculum component for all s...

Jordan inside the "Daydream v2" exhibit. On Sunday, my daughter and I attended the Wonderspaces exhibit in San Diego. It is described on their website as " a pop-up museum of extraordinary experiences." Each of these experiences was given their own space in which to reside so that each piece could speak its own voice, without the presence of the others. "The Last Word" exhibit As we explored the 16 unique experiences, Jordan and I experienced a range of emotional reactions to the art. In some, we were completely awestruck. In others, we were perplexed. At others, raw with emotions. And in some, we felt playful. "The Last Word," consisting of hundreds of pieces of rolled up paper, allowed participants to leave their "last word" to someone... a way to "recapture what was never uttered" ( website ).  This opportunity to peer into the soul of others silenced my mind, and opened my heart to the emotional plight of oth...

"When we're sort of infused with   either enthusiasm or awe or fondness or whatever,   it changes and alters our perception of things.   It changes what we see. It changes what we remember."  - Rob Legato, movie effects creator  from his Ted Talk " The Art of Creating Awe " Being introduced to the School Board Last week I started a new job. No longer in Educational or Information Technology, I am now the Executive Director of Innovation and Design for a K-6 school district. Leaving my former position, and district, was not a decision that I took lightly. And yet, it was an easy decision to make. Why? Because this new district is in pursuit of awe... of wow... of creating wonder and joy for students. It was evident in their five year plan published on their website. It was evident in the weekly videos produced showcasing students engaged in learning. It was evident in the questions they asked me during the interview process. It was evident in every co...

I get so many daily emails with tech digests that I hardly ever go through them all. But today, my last day of work before Spring Break, I had a little extra time on my hands so I thought I'd read through all my "junk" email. And hidden at the bottom of one of my emails was this gem of a quote: We have mistakenly believed that giving teachers and students new software or a new box will help fix education, but the technology has over-promised and under delivered. – Larry Ferlazzo I would like to politely disagree. I don't think technology has ever promised to do anything. It's just a tool. People may have promised that these tools will revolutionize education, but people tend to make a lot of promises that aren't filled. People are the only fix to the problems in education. People who are willing to have tough conversations about the sad state of affairs many (but not all!) of our classrooms are in today. People who are willing to ackno...

Urgency is often a gift.  It can create both clarity and action. - Mark Miller When I started my teaching career, my dad would scoff about Teacher Professional Growth Days. I remember him saying, "I don't see cars in the parking lot... it's just another day off for teachers." Well Dad, today we had 300 teachers packed in at one school engaging in some of the most meaningful professional growth I have seen during my 16 years as an educator. Starting our day was a call to action from the superintendent. After years of stagnant test scores, he emphasized that it is time to face our current reality. Students aren't succeeding academically. What work must be done to turn this around? Five instructional systems were discussed: Coherent First Teaching, Intervention, Positive Behavior Support, Assessments, and Teacher Collaboration. These gears, when in sync, can create monumental shifts in the learning experience of students. So how do we get there? Through p...

In his blog post, " What Makes a Master Teacher?" George Couros lists what makes a master teacher. Are there any qualities you would add? Or remove? Which one resonates the most with you? For me, I tried to ensure I got to know students on a personal level. Having taught middle school English Language Arts, it wasn't uncommon to have 150-175 students walk through my door every day. It was critical that they not see themselves as just another warm body in a seat, but rather as an important contributing member to the class.  I'll admit that I did better with some students than others. But I think that, overall, the effort paid off. By knowing my students, I was able to tailor curriculum to meet both their needs and their interests. For example, one year I had a student who had a poor assignment completion rate. He hated essay writing (and really, who doesn't?). But when I learned he wanted to be a rap artist, I let him write some of his literary responses as a ...