What has me thinking - March

Beg, borrow, and steal quickly became my mantra as a young teacher. And I'm still young. So I'm still stealing. You get the idea. Thanks to +Patrick Larkin  and +Steven Anderson for the idea behind this. I'm going to try sharing (occassionally) a few blog posts, articles, videos, or other media that have me thinking this week. We'll see how it actually turns out. 

6 Lessons from Daniel Pinks #ASCD14 Session by +Joe Mazza
Dan Pink is well known for his research behind motivation (hence the name of his bestseller, "Drive"). His focus at #ASCD14, however, seems to be persuasion. Joe's post highlights key aspects of Pink's keynote that you can use immediately in your day-to-day life as an educator, all geared around motivating those around you and moving the dial forward. Lots of great takeaways - will be referring back to this often. (As someone who did not attend #ASCD14, I still enjoy accessing the great people and content from the conference.)

The Overprotected Kid by Hanna Rosin
The research on the importance of independence, risk-taking, and play experienced during childhood is quite clear, from Rosin's article. This (long) fascinating read is filled with nostalgia for the explorative-nature that childhood used to embody. It raises thoughtful questions about what it means to allow our kids to face challenges - to experience and therefore overcome fear - and how heavy pushes for playground safety in the past 3 decades has yielded little-to-no change in injury outcomes. As an educator, this article validates what I think of as the struggle: letting kids work through an issue on their own, without much intervention, with a healthy amount of failure and challenge. Lots of connections here to the maker movement, as well. Having taught both in public and private schools, I am especially interested in what we consider to be "good" parenting, and how much of that involved letting go.

Teach Kids How to Code And You Give Them A Skill For Life by Nick Morrison
As of September of this year, "England will be the first country in the world to make computer programming a compulsory school subject at all levels." Raises the question: what are we doing here in the US? Lots of interesting references to programs around the country. While addressed far less than it should have, the fact that coding teaches vital life skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and understanding cause-and-effect should be the number one reason for teaching coding in schools. Interested to see how the US responds to the UK's innovative decision.

Reading PSA by 9th graders at the Emma Willard school
The power of the PSA (Public Service Announcement). Such a great example of the creativity our discover find when given the opportunity (or responsibility). We ask our students to create PSAs multiple times during the year, but this video is pushing me to expand my understanding of what one can/should look like.

Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner
This video captures such a critical aspect of education technology use that goes ignored all to often: kids need to be creating. They need to be less of the consumer and instead be the ones using the technology to create (whether it be videos, presentations, games, infographics, timelines, maps, games, fliers, simulators, etc etc etc). The push for edtech in schools is too often focused on how it is changing the teaching and not the learning.