Category: Impact on Learning
Are Chemistry and Biology Relevant?
They’ve dominated the sciences taught in schools from grades 1-12 for at least the last century. But are they still relevant? Here are the facts. So tell me, why do we teach Biology and Chemistry as the two mandatory sciences in 2023? Wouldn’t it make more sense to teach programming and robotics in grades 1-10?…
Discovering Creativity in Everyday Moments
Whether I’m on a beach watching the waves, stargazing while on night watch at sea, or just picking up the guitar between blog posts – I’m also seeking ways to discover creativity in everyday moments. I figured it might be worth sharing a few ways to find creative inspiration in your everyday life. Creativity in…
The Good and Bad of Ruts
Everything we know about learning suggests that there’s a cadence between routine incremental knowledge refinement and the breakout of new conceptual awareness. Knowledge Refinement. So when you’re at work and you feel like you’re in a rut, consider whether you’re at the maximum of your growth or whether you’re just emotionally bored. The daily routine…
Ditch That Textbook, A Failed Hoax
Look, it sounded great back in 2005 and 2010 to ditch that textbook. Folks made good money off of the idea and there are good reasons for it. Heck, I’m guilty of helping many teachers on my campuses move beyond textbooks and into embracing digital platforms – moves that resulted in increases in student engagement…
The Case for Curiosity
If you have a strong desire to know something, it’s much like any other strong desire humans have – the desire to eat, to drink, to breath. Once that desire takes place, there’s no obstacle that’s too large. It’s curious then, that not one single teacher preparation program has a course on curiosity. It’s curious…
Sometimes Learning is Painful, A Quote from da Vinci
“Learning never exhausts the mind.” – Leonardo da Vinci It’s true. Just like an hour of play, learning doesn’t wear us down. It invigorates, it energizes, and it enthralls us. Except for when it doesn’t. Remember that time when you went too fast on your bike and learned a lesson about inertia? That wasn’t energizing. Remember…
No One Can Help You
In yesterday’s post we looked at the quote that tied willingness to learn to helplessness. Essentially, without the will to learn, no one can help you. It sounds logical. You know the old saying, you can lead a horse to water… But it’s only half true. Yes, if you’re delivering a mandated curriculum in a…
Characteristics of Evergreen Videos
Whether you’re making your own or trying to find a good evergreen video for to communicate your message, here are 6 characteristics to look for: Scalable. An evergreen video can be made by one person, a YouTuber, a teacher, an author, and be used by thousands of learner each day. Short. Relative to the concept…
9 Tips for Evergreen Videos in Virtual Learning
They seem to be timeless, those videos of some of the world’s best teachers: Bob Ross at the canvas, Sal Khan teaching polynomials on his blackboard, and Bill Nye presenting scientific concepts like the one below. Let’s talk strategic pedagogy for a bit. Here are nine quick tips. When To Use Evergreen Videos Introducing a…
Pitfalls of Asynchronous Learning
Just so we’re on the same page, virtual learning environments and micro schools are the future of learning. That said, we currently face several pitfalls of asynchronous learning: We feel less accountable There is less accountability (this is a distinct from “feeling” accountable) In mandated courses, engagement will waiver and is difficult to assess Teachers…
Why Results Aren’t the End Result
Point A: Teach someone how to do something. Point Z: Expect them to get results. Everything A-Z looks like failure because that’s the learning curve – that’s where growth happens. That’s also where mistakes and failure occur. This is why results aren’t the end result. Instead, the growth and discovery process should be the end…
Do You Really Want To Be Sent Away?
You’re in a place in your job where you need help. But then, you’re sent away. “Check out this website. Read this book. Go to this conference.” Do you really want to be sent away? Sent away to stumble through your own answers. Do you really want to do the same for your staff? Wouldn’t…
What Makes Us Happy And Why That Matters To Curriculum
Let’s contemplate what makes us happy. In this peer-reviewed article, happiness is distinct from sustainable happiness. Happiness Happiness can be bought, for the moment. It can be achieved and repeated with effort and accolades. But these materialistic and task-oriented experiences of happiness are short-lived and require continual repeating and “upping the ante.” In a materialistic…
Readiness to Learn
In my home state, we have readiness standards and supporting standards. You probably have similar categories in your local province or region. If you’re in the U.S. and have Common Core standards, you’re familiar with the anchor standards. The idea is simple. There is a core set of learning benchmarks that must be minimally reached…
Learning and the Arrogance of Academics
We say that learning can happen anywhere at any time. But we educators build systems that require certification. That is, you haven’t officially learned until someone certifies you. You haven’t officially been schooled until an association accredits you. You haven’t officially been educated until a certified and accredited organization degrees you. We say that learning…