innovation. inspiration. education.
I think we have all had students in our class that “suffer” a bad case of the “can not’s”. The kids who can’t cut that, can’t find that, can’t put that away, can’t get that out. And we are busy, and the class is waiting, so we grab it for them, cut it for… Continue reading Stand Up for Something Different
Makerspace. Trendy? Needed? Overused? Underused? Lots of discussion in our school – and many others – about this ‘new thing’. Sometimes I find it exhausting that we have to form a committee to come to the shared understanding that kids making stuff, tinkering, thinking, designing, prototyping ideas, and playing, is a good thing! Nonetheless, what… Continue reading MakerSpace or MakerMindset?
I just saw this video from GOOD. Data Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ — Written and Produced by Gabriel Reilich. Animation by Jake Infusino. The last two lines of the animation really hits home: This video would serve as an excellent provocation as part of the Design Thinking process. With this information, students would be equipped to think… Continue reading Empathy By Numbers
Last week, I was telling a fellow Masters student the story of my first year teaching in Munich. I was a new mom to a 10 week old baby when I started work at MIS. My husband would bring her to work so I could feed her and occasionally this would mean one or two… Continue reading More Thoughts on Empathy…
Tony Wagner’s book “Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World” is a brilliant read. Instead of hoping kids will develop 21st Century skills by accident or as an ‘aside’ to their school career, Tony believes we need to explicitly look for ways to equip students with skills needed for what he describes as… Continue reading Start With Empathy
Action research: research that will help the practitioner. -Kurt Lewin When I first heard the term ‘Action Research’ I think I focused more on the ‘research’ and less on the ‘action’ and in doing so, was a little turned off at the thought of engaging in hours of reading through studies and adhering to protocols,… Continue reading Action Research
Earlier this week, I read an article by Eric Barker: 6 Rules That Should Be Guiding Your Career. Barker shares “the rules” as developed by Daniel Pink. The Rules: There is no plan Think strengths, not weaknesses It’s not about you Persistance trumps talent Make excellent mistakes Leave an imprint I know it says rules… Continue reading Teaching Without A Plan….What??
Learning “by accident”. Sounds weird but that is what we have seen going on at school for the last five weeks as we have been headfirst, up to our knees in Exhibition – the culminating event for students in the IB PYP program. Every day it seems, we are seeing learning EVERYWHERE. And it’s not… Continue reading School…with a helping of learning on the side
So it might seem premature to start talking of “life after COVID19” but here in Nanjing, this is where we are heading – albeit slowly. Nothing about this situation is normal. It is unprecedented. Exceptional. Out of the ordinary. And our return to school deserves to be nothing short of the same. When schools, including… Continue reading See You On The Flipside!
The past year and a half has been intense for me. After 21 years of elementary teaching, I traded in PYP for MYP and became one of three Design teachers at my school. Just prior to this, I applied for the assistant principal (Primary) position. I didn’t get it. Just recently, I applied for the… Continue reading Why I Quit Blogging – And Why I’m Back
