“Science, by its own definition, doesn’t give us meaning. It just provides us with facts . . . Our lives gain meaning only when we tell our story.”—David Steindl-Rast A…
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“Our job, sometimes, is simply to be the spark, help build confidence, and then get out of the way. If innovation in any school is solely dependent upon one person,…
Ahh, summer is coming to an end. For some of us, school has already started, for others, we still have a few weeks left before the doors flood open with…
I remember thinking about doing Genius Hour (or as I called it a 20% time project) in my class for the first time. It was a bit scary. It was…
It was towards the middle of my first year teaching (8th grade) when it hit me: My class was spinning out of control, and it was all my fault. I…
Creativity isn’t limited to STEM or STEAM or even the arts. Every time a student is designing, building, tinkering, and problem-solving, it becomes a chance to develop a maker mindset….
A few years ago, during the school year, my students and I had a similar problem: There wasn’t an opportunity for me to find out what they really enjoyed doing,…
“Yea, but what does it look like?” This is the question I hear and see most frequently online and at conferences when someone mentions the phrase empower students. As someone who…
Having a blog can be like standing in a packed street corner with a megaphone. You can be as loud as you want to be…but usually everyone is too busy…
As teachers, our life is busy. It’s not only the kind of busy when you run from one activity to the next activity. It’s the kind of busy where you…
EMPOWER is here!!! Get your copy on Amazon (click here) My new book, Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning is now available on Amazon. This has been a…
As I work with students and teachers there is one common thread that the “stand-out” classrooms share: They take risks. Not only do these students and teachers take learning risks,…
“Is this real, Mr. J?” The question came from the back of the room. Todd rarely spoke up in class, but today he seemed visibly upset. “Yes, it is real….
Daniel Coyle, the author of The Talent Code, recently looked at a study on feedback from teachers. This study showed that one simple phrase could boost student effort by 40%. I was shocked…
You may have missed it along the way, but your class has a story. You might have been caught up in the everyday grind, or overwhelmed, or possibly just enjoying…
When I was in high school I spent most of my time playing sports (football and basketball) and worrying about my so-called social life. In school, I rarely was allowed…
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off…
I get to visit a lot of schools around the country, and I’ll admit that when I see signs like the one below, I often cringe. It’s not the sign’s fault,…
In his book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg describes keystone habits as, “small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of…
I often get asked about the steps for running a Genius Hour Project or a 20% Time project in your class. I tend to give the same answer every time:…
Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element, has famously said: “Whether or not you discover your talents and passions is partly a matter of opportunity. If you’ve never been sailing,…
Many teachers have done the spaghetti and marshmallow challenge in the classroom and called it a STEM project. It’s a great activity, but is it really a STEM activity? Sure there’s…
Eat your heart out, Rembrandt. pic.twitter.com/hN42zJ3NPJ — Harriett Gilbert (@HarriettSG) December 7, 2014 This photo went viral a few years ago, as people from around the world shared how it…
The Global Day of Design just wrapped up on May 2nd. If you want to see what happens when 80,000+ students embrace design thinking, check out the Twitter stream and…
This is a guest-post written by a middle school teacher in my district, Annemarie Catalano. This year has been a big push to create a “maker culture” within our district….
When I was in 3rd grade my best friend Mark and I built a treehouse out of wood scraps we found in the forest behind his house. We were makers….
Last year over 40,000 students and 450 schools from 5 continents participated in the very first Global Day of Design. The hashtag went viral as students and teachers shared and…
You are not average. Neither am I. Actually, no one is average. The assumption that metrics comparing us to an average—like developmental milestones, GPAs, personality assessments, standardized test results, and…
In 9th grade, I cut my thumb on a saw in wood shop and had to get stitches. It wasn’t too bad… However, that was the last year I took…
My daughter is in 2nd grade. She loves learning (seriously, she comes home every day excited about Flat Stanley, moving to multiplication, a piece of art she made, or something…
I was talking with a teacher in my school district yesterday who said, “I just don’t know if we should try this again in class. It seems like lots of…
There is a scene in the film, “Most Likely to Succeed”, that struck me to the core. You see, for years I wanted to be the challenging teacher. I wanted…
Building a New Model Together Let’s stop fighting change. Instead, let’s build on the best practices we’ve developed over centuries as learners, and embrace next practices that reflect our world….
Let’s be honest. Being a teacher and school leader can be overwhelming. There is so much to do (not enough time), so much to learn (where do we even start),…
Imagine you’ve been in education for 7, 11, 15 or even 25 years. In each of those years, you have grown as a professional, learned new technologies, shifted with the…
Let’s start with the beginning. I’m an idea guy. That is, I have a lot of ideas. As a teacher I would constantly improvise, come up with new projects, lesson…
Blended learning. Personalized learning. Individualized learning. Mass customized learning. Differentiated learning. Online learning. It seems we are obsessed with adding adjectives in front of the noun, learning. While I have…
Last year over 40,000 students and 450 schools from 5 continents participated in the very first Global Day of Design. The hashtag went viral as students and teachers shared and…
I came across a story about Tracy Musser, a bus driver in Penn Manor school district. I couldn’t help but smile as I read about Tracy (who never liked to…
My daughter lowered her eyes, looked at me, and said, “I can’t do it.” I looked back and asked her again to put one foot on the board, push off…
How do you move from “pockets of innovation” to a “culture of innovation”? How do we start to innovate inside of the box? What does innovation mean for education, and…
It’s 2017. Communication is changing fast (my 7-yr old daughter and I just exchanged Snaps while I am in Chicago and she is outside of Philadelphia in different time zones,…
On January 1st I posted a call to action on my blog about (you guessed it) blogging. It was as much a call-to-action for me as it was for anyone…
I’m someone who constantly uses new technology and tries out new tools to see what will work for me, and for my teachers. Yet, there are often times that I…
I distinctly remembering learning how to type. It was hard. I had been a hunt and peck perfectionist up until age 14 when my school provided a computer course focused…
After writing my post on “100 books every teacher should read” I received a number of emails about finding the time to read all of those books (without going broke…
A few years ago a colleague of mine shared a slide deck with me that completely transformed my perspective on leadership and building culture. I was new to a leadership…
Two weeks ago I launched the “30 days of blogging” challenge on this blog (you can read about it here). Almost 200 education bloggers signed up to share their blog,…
Hacking Project Based Learning: 10 Easy Steps to PBL and Inquiry in the Classroom Last year I had a teacher in my district come up and ask me if I…
After writing my post on “100 books every teacher should read” I received a number of emails about finding the time to read all of those books (without going broke or insane!)….
When we look at what research says about becoming better at something, two pieces of evidence stand out. First, we must have clarity on what our goals are, and where…
The crowd roared. Everyone stood up and clapped with deep enthusiasm. I saw a couple in front of us crying. I looked at my wife and smiled wide. “Amazing,” she…
Blogging can be a lot of things. It can be reflecting, it can be sharing, it can be planning, it can be a how-to, it can be a call to…
Over 10,000 students from 329 schools officially signed up to participate in this year’s MARS Challenge project. The videos, advertisements, and projects that were submitted are unbelievable. Students designing their…
Each year after holiday break I told my students their writing would change forever. It was a simple statement, but most of them did not take it seriously. What ensued was…
1. Learning starts with attention. It’s almost impossible to learn if you aren’t paying attention. And whatever you are giving attention has the ability to turn into learning. 2. Attention…
Maybe you are a bibliophile like me and love reading a new book each week or month. Or maybe you are thinking about 2017 and want to read a book…
Last April, we had over 50,000 students participate in the Global Day of Design (and next year’s GDD is slated for May 2nd). It was powerful to watch students embrace design thinking…
A fresh start. Isn’t that what so many want in education? Whether you are a student, parent, teacher, administrator, or community member, we all have our opinions on what school…
Ahh, the day after Thanksgiving, and I’m seriously regretting that last piece of pie last night. But, I’ve got something today that’s been on my mind for a while. I…
As I work with students and teachers there is one common thread that the “stand-out” classrooms share: They take risks. Not only do these students and teachers take learning risks,…
A week ago at this time my family and I were packing our bags to head home from Disney World. As the kids played in the pool, my wife and I…
Raise your hand if you have spent over 14,000 hours in school during your lifetime. If you grew up in the Unites States, or a country with similar education philosophy,…
When I was in sixth grade we were tasked with one of my favorite school projects of all time. We were allowed to choose a book to read and then,…
I could hear my oldest daughter come rushing down the stairs last week as I arrived home from work. My two youngest pulled and gripped on me as I picked…
This is the most fun I’ve ever had reading a “professional” education book. I’m serious. Maybe you are just thinking about getting started with a makerspace at your school. Maybe…
Before I begin, let me make a very clear statement: I don’t believe that technology in our classrooms is a silver bullet. Adding technology cannot alone increase engagement, empower our…
You know what makes the internet awesome? You get to explore it. You get to use it for your own learning, making, communicating, collaborating, researching, and thinking purposes. When I…
My grandmom is wise. And at 91 years old, she’s still as curious as ever. Yesterday we were having a discussion about the work we are doing in my school…
We’ve all had our “aha” moments as teachers. Those days where everything clicks, the students are not only engaged but also empowered, and for a minute we remember why we…
This is the second in a 7-part series on the Future of Learning. You can read the first post here, and join the discussion on our Facebook page: The Future…
Have you heard of “The Innovator’s Mindset” MOOC, happening over a six week period? This awesome opportunity will begin on September 17, 2016 and finish at the end of October…
In the year 1820, a person could expect to live less than 35 years, 94% of the global population lived in extreme poverty, and less that 20% of the population…
You may have missed it along the way, but your class has a story. You might have been caught up in the everyday grind, or overwhelmed, or possibly just enjoying…
On Monday of last week, I officially started my new job as Director of Technology and Innovation for Centennial School District (Warminster, PA). While I’m really excited to get started…
I’ve been writing a lot about Snapchat recently, as I’ve seen it take over my phone as one of the top apps I use to connect with my family and…
Note: I recently opened up enrollment in my Genius Hour Master Course. The course is available to join from now until July 30th. After July 30th we are shutting down the…
If you haven’t heard of Genius Hour or 20% time in the classroom, the premise is simple: Give your students 20% of their class time (or an hour each week) to…
“Let me ask you a question,” she said. “Ok,” I offered back, not too sure where this was headed. “This whole Genius Hour and 20% project thing…isn’t that how we…
A few years ago a group of educators started talking about one of the biggest issues we continued to see in school after school, classroom after classroom: The classroom still…
I didn’t think I would have to write this post. But apparently someone needs to write it. This past week a highly acclaimed organization (NPR) put out a story where a…
It’s the morning of Edcamp Leadership, and all around the world educational leaders will be learning from each other, sharing ideas, and talking about how to better their schools, classrooms,…
For some of my friends, it seems so simple. They can go to work, hang out with their family, spend time with their friends on the weekends, have a vacation…
The Millennial Generation is said to start with those born in 1980 and ends with those born in 1995. If those dates hold up, then I’m a proud member of…
Lately, I’ve been obsessing over the future of learning. That has included a lot of research and time spent analyzing trends in technology, especially those that will impact the education…
Note: The 40-hour teacher workweek club has been massively successful in the past few months. Angela Watson (the creator) is holding one last webinar before the club closes on July…
I failed a lot this year (you can read about them all here in my failure report), but also had some amazing successes with teachers and students at our school….
In the five years since doing the 20% Project in my class, I’ve connected with amazing educators doing the same type of inquiry-based learning, whether it be Genius Hour, 20%…
My first game ever as a head football coach had us losing 13-6 with one quarter to play in the game. My team was young, but extremely talented. I realized…
Our new book, LAUNCH: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student, has been out for almost a month now and the response has…
Why are you using technology? Or more importantly, how are you using technology to better the learning in your classroom and/or school? If you are like me, then you’ve had…
When my students were doing the 20% Project (Genius Hour) in my class we had an “Epic Failure Board” (inspired by a number of people) where they would pin up…
“What do you want to do today?” “Where do you want to go for dinner?” “What song should I put on?” “Who said what???” It seems all day long we…
Last year I wrote a post titled, 100 Books Every Teacher Should Read. I’ve since updated that post once, but wanted to write a separate piece about 10 books I’ve…
In the widely known “invisible gorilla” experiment, volunteers watched a video of different groups tossing a ball and were asked to count the number of times the ball was tossed. In the middle…
Thanks to everyone for making our new book, LAUNCH: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student, a #1 bestseller on Amazon this weekend!…
LAUNCH is here!!! Get your copy on Amazon (click here). It’s here! My new book, LAUNCH: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student…
“Our job, sometimes, is simply to be the spark, help build confidence, and then get out of the way. If innovation in any school is solely dependent upon one person,…
My daughter had her first “lip sync” performance tonight at a school event. Her and a bunch of first-grade friends had been practicing a routine for “Call Me Maybe” for…
