Thoughts and reflections on teaching and learning – Cohort 21 Member Blog
Written by Garth Nichols
This week has been a short week with the long weekend, and it was a week that saw Ontario easing some of its restrictions again. This has schools thinking more and more about what it might look like to return to campus and what it means for planning: logistics & regulations, wellbeing of faculty and […]
Written by Garth Nichols
This week has been one full of “Congratitude” – the combination of congratulations and gratitude. There is not formal definition, and though I am pretty sure that I made the word up, I am sure that I am not the only one to use it… This week I have had the opportunity […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Published in 2013, I was surprised when my principal recommended this book to me – but I shouldn’t have been. His understandings of the world still apply, and though there is nascent progress in many areas, we are still in the early adoption of many of his findings. This book is about how taking an […]
Written by Garth Nichols
This week I found more energy, thanks to a shift in the conversation about coming up for air. Government officials began to consider what it might look like to ease the isolation and closures; and, school in other parts of the world are starting to open back up in phases. It has been a long […]
Written by Garth Nichols
I wanted to share three resources that have really resonated with me that I have come across either this week or the last. I think that these 3 resources really speak to the challenges and hope that we are facing as educators. Take a listen, take a look, and take a read. I hope these […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Thanks to @jmedved for the recommendation of “NeuroTeach“. Written by Glenn Whitman and Ian Kelleher, this is a great book that should be central to schools’ professional development library. NeuroTeach is a culmination of what we know about the brain, how we learn, what non-neural factors influence learning (hint: feelings!), and practical strategies for being […]
Written by Garth Nichols
It is a happy coincidence that I read this book Permission to Feel by Marc Brackett as I was also researching student agency. Emotions and agency are inextricably link through the cognitive processes, such that: “The three most important aspects of learning – attention, focus, and memory – are all controlled by our emotions, not […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Chess is not an infinite game, nor is football. These have defined beginnings , ends and winners. In his latest book, Simon Sinek argues that many organizations, businesses, corporations and even politicians are playing ‘finite games’. They are concerned about the various finish lines, be they quarterly reports, the next mid-term, the bottom line, or […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Do you want to be good at something? Do you want to excel or be the best? How might you do this? Start early, focus early, train early and get that head start, right? This book, by the same author of The Sports Gene, advocates that our natural inclination to applaud and seek ‘head starts’, […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Everything is f*cked. Really? That’s some bold language to use to describe the world. Sure, you might even agree that this sentiment sums up the the current state of affairs. However, this isn’t a book about the current state of affairs, it’s a book about YOU. No, I’m not saying that you’re not “F*cked”. No, […]
