My grandmother and mother both used figurative language more than the average person and beyond colloquialism. In this way, they were like characters penned by Mark Twain. As a child, this was humorous for me and seemed a fun way to talk. They would say things like “She is getting long in the tooth,” when … Continue reading “Everybody has two sticks.”
Category: Uncategorized
Symptoms, causes, and real problems
One challenge of leaders is to sort through symptoms and causes to find the real problems an organization faces. The community will struggle to treat the symptoms or employ the wrong solutions until it is correctly identified and remedied. This video looks at a case study from a school district to help sort through the … Continue reading Symptoms, causes, and real problems
Our students need robot insurance.
Years ago Saturday Night Live shared a brilliant commercial parody for robot insurance to protect seniors from the attacks of robots wanting their medicine for fuel. Actor Sam Waterston authoritatively warns, “You need to feel safe, and that is harder and harder to do now-a-days because robots can strike at any time.” There is enough … Continue reading Our students need robot insurance.
Are your teachers using Teacher Pay Teachers and does it matter?
There is a good chance they already are using it or something like it. Teacher Pay Teachers has been in business since 2006 and tout around 4 million users. Before that, teacher blogs offered up lesson plans that colleagues outside their district could access. Now there is a growing swell of using Open Edcuational Resources … Continue reading Are your teachers using Teacher Pay Teachers and does it matter?
Personalized learning, “You keep using that word…”
Many have pointed out how Star Trek predicts or shapes our use of technology. As our standardized test fetishization grew, computers become more accessible, and software became more complex, I worried that schools would become like the Vulcan academy. Students thrust through the standards at different paces and depth levels, while teachers become more like … Continue reading Personalized learning, “You keep using that word…”
Thinking about thinking
Metacognition saw a boost of interest in public education with the ongoing hullabaloo around growth mindset. Some good points around “thinking about thinking” were introduced, but some of the nuances were lost and some rightly criticized what was being practiced was more akin to Harold Hill’s “Think method.” Even Carol Dweck, the researcher who set the recent growth mindset … Continue reading Thinking about thinking