You had me at “badass educator”. Now I’ve got a whole script idea for a Tarantino film.

Eric

You had me at hello. Well done, again! You are a fabulous writer, and by the sounds of it, a generous and reflective educator. Your posts are a joy to read and I feel you have truly committed to this Cohort21 experience. My hope is that one day this type of assessment practice is not needed as an “innovation” because it just makes damn…Read more

Loved our talks at the 3rd F2F. There are a few philosophies I’ve been interested in over the years that have not only informed my pedagogical “design” of SiTE Schools, but may also help to unite all the disparate strands of 20th century education philosophy which, as you intuited, are often emphasized differently in teacher…Read more

This sounds more than “so far so good”, this sounds like very far, and very good. Student-directed learning is perhaps the most difficult AND the most rewarding teaching and learning initiative one can attempt in the classroom. A huge amount of trust protocol is often required at the beginning of such a venture, and that often seems…Read more

Starting by asking the students how they feel is the surest way to empathize and understand why they might be anxious. As educators, we must always start with the learner. I say “might” because although I’ve read many of the latest reports on the rise of student anxiety, I often wonder if this is yet another adult projection.…Read more

Clearly I responded too soon on your last blog. These are AM?AZING! What a wonderful idea to have mindfulness bottles.

I think you are onto something here. And I would bet that the students were more mindful while making them. Perhaps something could be done where the students create more of these for other classes, or other schools. Often…Read more

This sounds more like the wish of adults than a wish for students. It is the adults who must change their attitude towards adolescents, to see them on a spectrum of development that deserves as much dignity as early years, despite some glaring differences.

My wish is for adults. I wish they would truly see adolescents and then…Read more

You’ve touched upon a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I have a 3 1/2 year-old girl who is already starting that long road towards literacy. I am thankful every day that we decided to put her into a Montessori program because those early-phonic structures you talk about in your blog, are exactly what the program works on…Read more

I think your HMW question is perhaps one of the most integral questions for 21st century secondary eduction. High schools in the near future will have to radically reimagine the role of librarians in the same ways that Universities have done over the past 15 years. You are a curator, a discerner, an organizer, a node, a recommender, a…Read more

A wonderful first step you’ve achieved here, to access the experts within your own school. Not enough teachers are able to observe one another teaching. Your second step, to involve the students in co-creating a single-point rubric is likewise, wonderful pedagogy. Allowing them to come to the same realizations that you have made…Read more

GEODES sounds awesome, and a huge step in the necessary direction towards interdisciplinary learning. Vertical integration makes so much sense developmentally, but makes huge sense in a boarding environment where international students at various learning levels can achieve academic mentorship instead of colonial stigma.

Sometimes…Read more

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Happy to inspire you and give you courage. Obviously, I’m in a special situation where my parents are on board with the vision and philosophy, and we are not yet big enough to have to deal with the type of bureaucracy that inevitably forms when systems grow. Having said that, my number…Read more

This is one of the best Cohort21 blogs I have ever read. Well done! Seriously. The encouraging tone of your writing, the personal stories, concrete strategies, all make for wonderful education takeaways. I think a PUBLISHING WEEK is an absolutely brilliant idea and one that should be mandatory for ALL educators.

At SiTE School we…Read more

Just wow. Good for you. Great for your family. Thanks for sharing both your learned and felt experiences.

I think by sharing your fears and observations here you have demonstrated how to foster real and brave conversations between teachers and teachers that could lead to real change.

So let’s get started, shall we.

Let me share with you my opinion, because I feel that is what you are looking for. Not more amplification of…Read more

I believe you are doing everything you should be doing, including worrying if you’re not doing enough. Innovation is its own reward for it renews your practice and creates an atmosphere of risk-taking in the classroom that you yourself are modelling. The resulting success is far less important.

Keep it up. French is super challenging…Read more

I’m with you! One of my pet peeves of “economics-talk” at social gatherings, board meetings, or even in the general media, is when someone inevitably uses the “bucket” analogy to explain financial budgeting (as in, there is only so much money in the bucket, so if we give more to arts or education, then we’ll have to take it from…Read more

I’ve found that most teachers and students agree. Shame how that is not the reality for just about everyone in public education. Also shame the government doesn’t get it. Here is a ridiculous study worth reading:

Allison, Derek J. Secondary School Class Sizes and Student…Read more

We are happy you are with us this year and along for the ride. Engagement has been a popular and necessary action plan topic in the past, which means there are a ton of resources to be found from past Cohortians on this topic, and in a Math class. @mmoore is one of the most innovative math teachers I know and is worth talking to and…Read more

Adolescents need mentors. Very few are equipped with the speculative capacity to imagine themselves into an unknown future. Every year schools graduate kids who go off to the real world to face that future. You could potentially be a liaison between recent alumni and current students, a mix between advancement officer and life coach.…Read more

The more you can include students in on their assessment, the greater their capacity for engagement and development of metacognition.

The trick with any co-construction model is to balance the time it takes to brainstorm criteria versus the amount of knowledge you expect the class to demonstrate. I have found the more…Read more

Wellbeing is the “be-and-end-all” of education. There is nothing else. Nothing. Without healthy social-emotional-learning, there is no learning. So this is noble and necessary work and will no doubt usher you into new and exciting realms of expertise.

Keep up the great work,
Eric

I love the term, “not nice answers” as somehow being in opposition to the textbook. I find, developmentally, that the more you can create “rebel” situations in upper adolescence, a sense of getting away with something (whether it actually is NEW or not!).

The only thing I’m missing here is how this connects to the Mathematical…Read more

We will miss you at Cohort this year. The only thing that keeps me sane at the moment is the work. If I stop and think about what I’m doing it freaks me out. This is already the most transformational thing I’ve ever been part of, and I feel it is the same for the 10 brave students who make up SiTE school so far. For them, and…Read more