Engineering A Better School
Recently, in my bioengineering course, we were having a lively discussion about “ideation” - thinking of novel, crazy, outside-the-box solutions to problems in the world we saw as urgent. As I watched my students come up with solutions to their problems - a color sensor for burnt toast, a pressure sensor to detect fouls on the soccer field, low-cost motion sensors to detect speeding cars - I was struck with a question: Why don’t we do this type of “engineering design” more of
The Best Laid (Lesson) Plans Go Awry
Today, I continued work on my basement. This has been an ongoing project for the better part of 2 months now, and it has been wrought with fits and starts the entire time. Today’s work was less than ideal. There were a series of setbacks that resulted in a seemingly wasted day. The beauty of working on my house, and in my past experience in construction, is the immediate gratification that comes from altering the landscape in which you are working. No matter what I do in my h
Problem Posing: Generating Questions for Exploration
Students are asked a tremendous amount of questions daily, and yet they rarely spend time crafting their own questions or answering questions posed by their peers. This is true in my own math classroom, where most math problems encountered by students come from textbooks, digital curricula, blogs and suggestions from colleagues at school and on Twitter. But lately, I have been asking students to pose their own mathematical problems, with much success. What exactly is problem
How to Bring EDxED To Your School!
“Professional Development is meant to develop you professionally, not serve as purely administrative time.” That one line, delivered by the passionate and talented Walter Brown of Hudson HSLT, completely changed my perspective on professional development. How often had I sat through meetings during my mandated “Professional Development” time to talk through administrative checklists? Even in the furthest stretches of the imagination, the it would be a stretch to call much of
SHARE: How To Transform the Leadership Office From a Complaint Department to a Solution Zone
The school leader’s office door is always open—often for complaints. When the door is wide open to negativity, it can bleed into school culture and weigh everyone down. But it’s possible to start building a positive and resilient school culture starting in those everyday office visits. Through the art of mindful listening, you can transform the school leader’s office from the complaint department to a solution zone! Read the whole story on Concordia Room 241 #leader #schoolle