Thoughts and reflections on teaching and learning – Cohort 21 Member Blog
Written by Garth Nichols
About three weeks ago, my family of four grew to five. We got a puppy! Her name is Penny, and she is a mini-French Bassett Hound. I’m in love. She has so much energy, curiosity and so much to learn! She’s brought a lot to our family so far, but not without a disruption to […]
Written by Garth Nichols
I’ve been immersed in a research article passed on to me from one of my trusted colleagues. This article, entitled “Having It All? A Qualitative Examination of Affluent Adolescent Girls’ Perceptions of Stress and Their Quest for Success” by Spencer, et al, amplifies and deepens my research reading with Quiet, by Susan Cain (see review […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Many of us struggle with the role of technology in the lives of our students and within the culture of our organizations, and even in our own lives. I’ve been thinking about this throughout this year, and was able to capture some of my earlier thinking in this BLOG POST of an Email conversation with @edaigle. […]
Written by Garth Nichols
I have just returned from a great conference of educators held in beautiful Victoria BC, hosted by St. Michael’s University School. ISEEN is the Independent Schools Experiential Educator’s Network. Founded 13 years ago with about 10 people, it has grown substantially – there were over 150 participants this past week! I state that if only […]
Written by Garth Nichols
I read @edaigle’s post on Google+ about social media, and this started a very generative conversation – one that I hope keeps going! – that I am now taking back to my the hallways and offices on my own school. It centers around Rousseau Lake College’s Social Media policy. Rousseau is a smaller school than […]
Written by Garth Nichols
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 […]
Written by Garth Nichols
If we already know WHY we need to change education, and WHAT changes need to be made, then we have to really examine the WHY…Why hasn’t it changed? What are the obstacles to real change, and from where are these changes originating? Answers to these questions are becoming more and more clear for me, thanks […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Seth Godin’s post today: I was paging through a photo set that someone sent along and when I hit the left button one too many times, the screen popped up and said, “you’ve reached the beginning.” I guess that’s right here. And right now. Always. Sunk costs are real, but when making a new decision, […]
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’m already thinking about coming back in January, and continuing to cultivate growth mindsets throughout my school. I’ve talked about my school being a Learning Organization, and how many of us have adopted Twitter to help grow our thinking and PLN (#BVGLearns). In fact, it was a colleague, Matt Clark, who posted on Twitter (@mattclark […]
