It’s a Beautiful Day… Day 9!

U2 is one of my all time favourite bands. Beautiful Day is one of their biggest hits. We are hoping that our version of “Beautiful Day” in education is just as successful in our community! This year, my school is attempting some new – we are calling them “Day 9”s. These are 4 calendared days…
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Book Review: Teaching that Changes Lives

If we would have new knowledge, we must get a whole world of new questions. ~ Susanne K. Langer The world’s citizens need to think and act differently. In many ways, this begins with our education system. In a recent blog by Grant Lichtman, entitled “The Problem is Not Climate Change; the Problem is Irrational…
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What Does Student Voice Sound Like?

What does “Student Voice” look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like? The answers aren’t always comfortable – sometimes these answer can be downright problematic. And sometimes not. If I’ve learned one thing over the last two weeks, it’s that student voice is the thread that keeps the culture of the…
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Experiential Learning – thinking inside the school box

I have never been closer to the excitement, energy and enthusiasm that comes with students embarking on experiential learning opportunities. These opportunities can take on many forms, and look very different from to the next; but they all share the ability to channel into the very being of the students – whether that is through pursuing a…
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Book Review: Creating Innovators (Wagner)

Revisiting Creating Innovators 4 years after it was published was both inspiring and reassuring. Indeed, this book continues to be a call to action for all involved in the education realm: parents, students, teachers and administration.  I highly recommend this book as a read (or reread if you haven’t read it in a while) because: –…
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A Podcast Worth Listening To… #MakeEdChange

Building on my review of #EdJourney, I sourced this podcast from TeachThought. It is an interview with reknowned author Yong Zhao, who talks about the future of education, and – more importantly – HOW to get there. It’s a 40mins podcast – perfect for driving in traffic! – so here is a quick run-down of…
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Book Review: #EdJourney (Grant Lichtman)

Grant Lichtman’s book was the right medicine at the right time for me. I’ve been wrestling with innovation in shifting landscape of education. The target is becoming clearer for what education has done right in the past, and what changes are needed to continue to do right in the future. Books that I’ve read in…
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Making Innovation Routine

Making something routine can be taken as making something ordinary, something we do without thinking. However, what I have learned over the summer from my work with The Teachers Guild and with Future Design Schools, is that Innovation as Routine is anything but ordinary, and requires deep thinking. I first heard about the Teachers Guild…
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Being Relentless….

One of my big take-aways from this year’s Cohort 21 experience is the overall momentum and capacity for shifting our practice that was generated within the members this year. When Justin and I first began this journey, we had talked about how important it was to us, personally, that we pursue excellence in our classrooms…
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