“Information is king” and “Knowledge is power” are how the sayings go. Though Sir Francis Bacon’s knowledge quote still rings true, the first would seem to be a 20th Century adage that should be retired. In the 1900s information was siloed and access was somewhat by caste. There are still remnants of the tiers of […]
Dot-to-dot puzzles. My kid loves them. Always has. Now in sixth grade, his favorites still start off 1-2-3, but now they’re cranked up to 11. Extreme puzzles like this one: This giraffe puzzle (sorry to spoil the surprise… it’s a giraffe) has over 1300 dots to connect, but the concept is still the same […]
I grew up in the golden age of educational gaming. I don’t know that any games have matched the cultural and educational impact of the 8-bit majesty of The Oregon Trail (play the 1990 version here: https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_The_1990) or the full-color wonder of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (play the 1985 version here: https://archive.org/details/msdos_Where_in_the_World_is_Carmen_Sandiego_1985) […]
Back in my college days, every morning I walked through the art studio doors a favorite art professor of mine would start singing the classic Tony Bennett tune “Just in time. I found you just in time…” followed by a friendly greeting: “Justin!” More than 20 years later and I still find myself humming that […]
exploring “andragogy” and the work of Malcolm S. Knowles I debate with myself. A lot. At times this seemingly unending stream of thoughts leads to unease and pinch of insomnia. I like to feel at peace with my thoughts, but I’ve really struggled with my latest unit of study. Andragogy, pedagogy, professional development and […]
The Little Red Hen’s “Who will help me make this bread?” familiar refrain can teach us a lot about collaboration with our peers. Let me set the stage… The dreaded moment has arrived. You’re in a staff meeting. You’re sitting with a few colleagues at Table 2. You’ve been assigned to read and report on […]
Lessons From Business Leaders: What can educators learn from the private sector about a sustainable peer coaching model? Throughout these past three months I’ve been exploring and practicing the peer coaching model. My professor, Les Foltos, literally wrote the book on the topic. His book, Peer Coaching: Unlocking the Power of Collaboration (http://amzn.to/2g7WiW7) is a […]
Addressing 21st Century Skills and promoting critical thinking in a fifth grade classroom can be a tall order when faced with a deeply scripted curriculum. While project-based learning (PBL) is often seen as a catch-all approach to develop the 4-Cs (Collaboration, Communication, Critical thinking, and Creativity), the harsh reality is that fully implementing PBL is […]
In 1982, I was seven years old, and I was typing away on a Commodore VIC-20 computer. In order to load programs onto its whopping 5 KB of onboard memory, I would press play on the attached cassette deck and wait. (Here’s an interesting YouTube video if you have an extra 15 minutes to spare and […]
Triggering Question: How can I make the peer coaching process a seamless one for my colleague, especially in regards to time and scheduling constraints? As a specialist with a fixed schedule, I find myself time and again returning the issue of time and its role in the peer coaching process. Time and time-related issues come […]
