“Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.” ~Mark Twain It’s been over a decade (yes…a decade) since I wrote one of my most commented upon posts ever (ah, those were the days) titled A Steep Unlearning Curve. One of the nice things about having 15+ years of thinking and reflecting archived online is being […]
The Urgency to Unlearn Read More »
What norms do you have in your school, not just for behavior, but for learning? In most schools, norms exist, but they are not as clearly articulated as these five at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School outside of Atlanta, Ga.: Start with questions Assume the best Fail up Share the well Have fun Those norms form
#20: Brett Jacobsen – Norms for Learning Read More »
Last week, one of the premier edtech events in the world took place in San Antonio, and it was our good fortune (Bruce, Missy, and I) to all be in attendance at the ISTE 2017 conference with about 16,000 others. In this podcast, Bruce and I reflect on the love/hate relationship we both have with
I had the great privilege of delivering a commencement speech at a small school in New Jersey last week. It was the first speech I can remember that I wrote and read verbatim. Thought I’d share it here for posterity and, hopefully, to spur some thinking. Please read it as if you were an eighth
For most people, learning with others as opposed to learning alone is a no brainer. Learning is social by its very nature, and while there are certainly moments where it happens through deep reflection and application in isolation, we ultimately seek to share our learning with others and, in turn, learn with and from them. That’s
Small Communities, Tightly Joined Read More »
I came across an apt metaphor for change in schools a few months ago. An administrator told me excitedly that they had been giving students some say in ways in which their classrooms were outfitted, and that one class had chosen to use yoga balls to sit on instead of the traditional hard plastic (or
Yoga Balls in Rows Read More »
Fourteen people in a room. All of them educators. 12 of them parents. How many of those 12 do you think told a similar story of learning for their kids in schools? If you said all 12, you’d be correct. And if I asked you to guess what that story was? You’d probably get than one correct
A Common Sense Argument Read More »
For some reason, today I found myself using the word “beautiful” more often than most. I watched a truly “beautiful” sunrise this morning featuring streams of orange light peeking through puffy gray clouds. My daughter, who happens to be in Santiago, Chile at the moment, texted a “beautiful” picture of the city from an overlook, mountains
“Beautiful Learning” Read More »
For those not yet totally overwhelmed by the information stacks and flows of the modern world, here’s a not so secret trick to pushing yourself over the edge. Login to your Google account. Go to Google Alerts Create an alert for “computers in education” Copy the RSS feed for that alert Paste into your favorite
How to Read “Tech in Schools” Stories Read More »
I’ve been trying to imagine the pothole filled ride that 2017 is about to deliver, and I’m not sure “buckling up” is going to do much good. I can’t remember a new year that augured so much uncertainty. You? My first instinct is to tie everything down, stick to the routines, make sure emergency measures
Our Resolution: Be Less Efficient. And Ship. Read More »
As the year draws to a hectic close, and clichés like that one become more prevalent, I have been reflecting not so much on my best books or films or even restaurants of the year, but rather, on what I have learnt* over the past 12 months? Here at Modern Learners, we’ve spent another year,
What Have You Learnt This Year? Read More »
Stay with me on this. Its a topic that I think warrants a little more than we normally share here, and I promise, no politics and no mention of the “T” word… I’m not sure if you’re fully aware, but right now there are signs of a fundamental shift in the way our students will
The End of the Beginning of New Credentials Read More »
I was lucky. I completed my teaching degree in the 1970’s during a time of new ideas, new directions and new thinking. It wasn’t just a time for hippies and Woodstockers, but importantly it was also a time of provocative and open discourse around education, which inspired vigorous public conversations around the role of school and
The Moons are Aligning Read More »
How much of what we do every day is part of a routine, habit, or in some cases almost a ritual? I know that for most of us the getting out of bed, shower, teeth thing certainly is, but when it comes to our work the context of the question shifts, and maybe it’s a
Bells and Cells and other Big Fat Myths Read More »
“Great intentions are what spur people to collective action, and without such intentions, the inspiration that is fuel for real breakthroughs never combusts. People must be inspired, moved, called by mighty intentions to act.” ~Umair Haque A phrase I find myself using more and more these days (and probably mispronouncing) is “raison d’être” or reason for
Rethinking the (Under-)Education System Read More »
