Thoughts and reflections on teaching and learning – Cohort 21 Member Blog
Written by Garth Nichols
Clayton Christensen, in his latest book “Competing Against Luck”, puts innovation under the microscope. Like all things under a microscope, minutiae is revealed, studied and made clearer. He frames his book as an answer to below: Is innovation truly a crapshoot? Or is innovation difficult because we don’t know what causes it to succeed? You […]
Written by Garth Nichols
George Couros is a Canadian educational leader, who is also prolific social media contributor. He espouses innovation in education, and through his posts has created a sea change in the way people are talking about education, and its future. This is a book that coalesces these thoughts, and adds in some excellent examples of innovation. […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Quiet is the Sound of Leadership… Quiet, by Susan Cain, is expertly researched, and written with a very digestible, intimate voice such that any educator would be hard pressed to not recognize themselves, a student, parent or administrator in her stories and recounting of people’s experiences. Full disclosure, on took the QUIET TEST and found […]
Written by Garth Nichols
UPDATE: on Dec. 2nd @sethgodin published this on his blog: I’m reading a book – by all accounts a great, award winning book – but I just can’t get into it. I don’t see the greatness, and I don’t connect with it. Is it the book, or the fact my kids are jumping around me, […]
Written by Garth Nichols
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 […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Last week, 8 Havergal students and some 4 faculty took part in the 6 Degrees Toronto Conference. This conference was put together by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship to answer the challenge put forth by Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson: This was a three-day experience to explore the greatest social and political issues of our time: climate […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Many of us have already been exposed to the concepts behind Creating Cultures of Thinking; with my new start at Havergal, it has served as a great reminder of the moral imperative of education. Creating Cultures of Thinking, by Ron Ritchhart outlines the 8 forces “we must master to truly transform our schools”. These are: […]
Written by Garth Nichols
I am always asking my students to engage with their learning. I am often asking of my students to focus, and expecting them to pay attention during the learning activity. However, how often do we, as educators, allow our students to develop and practice the skills of paying attenion? I’ve been inspired over the last […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Sir Ken Robinson’s latest book “Creative Schools” is not a simple rehash of what we know so well about his ideas and theories; rather, this builds on his previous work to present insights in to how to bring creativity into our schools. Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value. (Robinson) We face […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Luckily enough, I was able to meet this author, Liz Arney, when I was on a research trip in San Francisco visiting innovative schools up and down the Bay Area. Liz made time to meet with both Justin Medved and I to explain her organization’s approach to finding schools that are innovative and finding ways to […]
