Category: classroom innovation
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Project-Based Meets Proficiency-Based Learning
This year, I was very lucky to have the opportunity to teach entrepreneurship. I used the opportunity to experiment and reflect on proficiency-based assessment as it relates to project-based learning. The driving question for this semester long course was what businesses make the best Shark Tank pitches? This overarching idea was broken into four parts.…
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Four strategies for increasing student engagement
If you are someone who thinks kids should just suck it up and do school because it’s just part of the process, you won’t want to read this post. I believe every kid deserves to have meaningful school experiences. I think that it is entirely possible that we have no clue what these kids are…
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Back off, chill out, and let kids figure it out
Back off… During the last day of class before Thanksgiving break, I handed out written feedback to my Entrepreneurship 1 students. The feedback specifically identified next steps based on a reflection they had written. I watched as several discussed their formal dance plans for the coming Friday. One played a game on his phone. Two…
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#SpotlightOn #Schools That Don’t Suck
Last year, I read Chip and Dan Heath’s book Switch and in chapter 2 they discuss the idea of using “bright spots” to make sustainable change occur. This also reminded me of a strengths based approach to change where the focus is to build on strengths in order to effect change. As I visited schools this year,…
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Classroom Innovation Off the Beaten Path
It’s hard not to know what you know but sometimes your expertise and knowledge can obscure innovation that could transform your classroom and school. We have been doing classrooms and schools the same way for a long time. As humans, we are drawn to routine and school cultures give us that. We are more likely…