Tool #1: Twitter With so much out there it’s hard to know where to begin. But Twitter is by far the number one online professional growth tool for educators. It’s the link and the glue that connects and brings colleagues and our collective knowledge together. While others may use Twitter for celebrity gossip, news updates, … Read more
Here’s a interestingly provocative article for all of us in education. How Much Do we Need to Know? by Peter Evans-Greenwood. It opens with: We used to be defined by what we knew. But today, knowing too much can be a liability. Here are some of the key threads from the article: Expertise matters in … Read more
I’m tired of the weasel-worded politicians who trot out “I am not a scientist” when asked a rational question that has the potential to challenge a deeply held, irrational, ignorant ideology. When the threat of a shred of reality, logic, facts, knowledge, evidence, truth, common sense, intelligence or science looms they trot out that lame … Read more
It’s the 30th anniversary of the Commodore Amiga computer. This is apparently the machine that introduced a whole new world of computer gaming for a generation of users. This is a cause of great celebration in the retro computing crowd. Back in 1985 personal computers were primarily either game machines or beige boxes from IBM … Read more
This post inspired by the #blimage* invitational series. Take a look at this picture and what do you see? That wall – at least on the right – has a serious case of efflorescence – the salty, crystalline eruption that commonly disfigures porous brickwork exposed to damp. On the left the wall seems composed of … Read more
I haven’t read Go Set a Watchman and I’m not sure I will. I did read the first chapter in The Guardian and was not particularly impressed. If Harper Lee did not want it published then she didn’t want it read. But read it or not, it’s hard to miss all the controversy over the … Read more
Finally – at long last – the old desks were taken to the basement for storage. There they sat for two decades -surplus to requirements, replaced by moulded plastic, steel and aluminum – gathering dust and shedding memories. The lidded oak desks from the third form room across from the hallway pressed against the ones … Read more
If we want to drive our children into a complete frenzy and soul-destroying meltdown then consider this from The Washington Post: Genius Girl, a Harvard-Stanford admissions hoax and elite college mania It’s the story of a hoax borne of desperation. It’s the story of a student who manufactured success and then had to face the … Read more
For those of you who concerned about our children’s future – and I would think that includes all of us – there was an interesting article in Fast Company magazine: These are the Top Jobs for College Graduates in 2015. Apparently job prospects for new college graduates are looking up according to the most recent report from … Read more
Tech director Davis Held sent us all a great directory of free online resources for making stuff. So how could I resist? Danger! Education down the Drain is my first effort. Turn up your volume and watch this brief video. Please let me know what you think.
We live in a whirled world of change: we’re overloaded, stressed out, with limited resources and endless possibilities. We’re already working as hard as we can. We are bombarded with an abundance of options and new ideas. We need nimble thinking, creativity, and innovation to break from the routines of the status quo, make the … Read more
I don’t know what started it but I found myself launching into manifesto mode! And this is what it led to – a kind of 9 Pillars of Education. I know I’ve left so much out. Feel free to critique these and add what’s missing. Change is inevitable. We need to help children to lean into … Read more
A simple Sunday night tweet from a PDS English teacher is enough to fire up the engine on the magic carpet of the mind. “The Waking” is apparently one of Theodore Roethke’s best known poems but it was new to me. Read it below and let it take you on a journey into consciousness. I … Read more
