I used to think all I needed to create something that mattered was passion and I was wrong. It turns out passion/interest might start the engine and get the creative…
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Students continue to fall into the same trap year after year with traditional schooling. They rarely have a chance to choose their learning path in school, and routinely treat school…
When Khan Academy burst onto the scene my initial reaction was to laugh. What was so special about it? The more and more I thought about Khan Academy and the…
If you are going through a deep period of reflection at the end of the school year (or even a short period) and are thinking about how to get recharged,…
In the 1930’s there was a young boy who had become addicted to and obsessed with eating sugar. His mother decided to get help and took the long and hot journey with her son…
You may have heard this story: A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were…
“I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that I don’t know the other side’s argument better than they do.” — Charlie Munger It was early on in my…
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…
Three different schools, in three different states, in a matter of two weeks. I got the same question. “How can I use Flipgrid in my class?” “Have you tried this…
Let me try to paint this picture. We were sitting in our school conference room on a Skype call with a Norwegian company, First Scandinavian, who creates and runs Newton…
When I heard the news that Phil Schlechty had passed away it was sudden and I felt sadness. I’ve never met Phil but I’ve been deeply impacted by his work…
In 1915 Albert Einstein sent a letter to his son, Albert. Einstein was living with his second wife and had not seen either of his two sons for quite some time….
I was worried the first time I tried a project-based learning unit with my students. As a young teacher, I had prided myself on running a challenging class and had…
To be honest, I was lost. Elementary teaching was something so new to me when I took a job as a Technology Staff Developer. I taught middle school. I taught…
My colleague and I looked at each other on Tuesday of this week. She had a look in her eyes of pure exhaustion. I could sense a call for help, but…
Last winter, as we were digging out of the twenty inches of snow, my kids were sledding in the backyard and hiding out in their igloo. My 6-yr old son…
When my students were doing the 20% Project (Genius Hour) in my class we had an “Epic Fail Board” (inspired by a number of people) where they would pin up…
One of my favorite writers (and thinkers) in the world, Shane Parrish, recently wrote a post titled, “What’s Staying the Same?”. In this post, he flips the questions we all…
I’ve heard this question in various forms many different times: How is technology going to save education? Radio and TV were going to save education, but of course, they didn’t. They…
Be more chef. It is a mantra I’ve adopted and taken to heart these past few months as my brother lay in a hospital, seemingly impacting the world more from…
I want to tell you a story. During the mid 19th century the city of Chicago was in crisis. The elevation of the growing metropolis was not much higher than…
My good friend (and co-author) John Spencer, shared this on Twitter a few days ago: Teaching is an exhausting gig. It’s okay to take a break in the summer. Read…
It seems after all this research I’ve done on the current state of education and all the reading I’ve done on the future of learning, that one piece of information keeps…
Coming into student teaching I was really confident about my lesson planning abilities. I was a bit worried about classroom management, designing assessments, and handling the demands of a first-year teacher…but…
I was worried the first time I tried a project-based learning unit with my students. As a young teacher, I had prided myself on running a challenging class and had focused…
Note: This is the third post in a series focused on practical ways to do PBL in every subject and grade level. Read the first and second here. It was…
I remember the first time I heard the phrase “student-centered classroom” and I almost chuckled. I had always believed my classroom was about the students, they were the reason we…
Ahh, IKEA. If you are anything like me, you probably have a love/hate relationship with IKEA. I love walking through their store, putting our kids in childcare, and seeing all…
Three different schools, in three different states, in a matter of two weeks. I got the same question. “How can I use Flipgrid in my class?” “Have you tried this…
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),…
My colleague and I looked each other on Tuesday of this week. She had a look in her eyes of pure exhaustion. I could sense a call for help, but…
“We are a school on an audacious mission. And our ‘why’ drives the teaching and learning here at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School (MVPS),” said Bo Adams in a recent interview…
“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,…
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…
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,…
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…
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….
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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….
“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,…
A little over a year ago, John Spencer and I tossed around an idea for a book called The Creative Classroom. Given our combined experience with design thinking (as educators, leaders,…
I’ve seen this short commercial on TV a few times, and when I’m watching it I can’t help but smile and think about all of the students and teachers out…
In 1939 audiences around the United States were delighted when the black and white scenery of The Wizard of Oz completely transformed into full technicolor in the blink of an…
I recently wrote a post (ok, it was kind of a rant) about “innovation” in education and who get’s to decide what is innovative. The bottom line of my argument…
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…
While John Spencer and I were developing the LAUNCH Cycle, we came up with a few areas that were likely stumbling blocks in the creative (design-thinking inspired) process. One of…
In the movie, The Martian, there was a quote in the last scene that really hit home, when thinking about my role as a teacher and leader. It comes from…
Last weekend, as we were digging out of the twenty inches of snow, my kids were sledding in the backyard and hiding out in their igloo. My 4-yr old son…
Usually, when I write a blog post it is because I want to dig deeper into a topic and explore its merit. The post then becomes my way of explaining…
In 1936 Dale Carnegie wrote a book called How to Win Friends and Influence People. It went on to sell over 30 million copies. It still sells today and is…
“Mindset change is not about picking up a few pointers here and there. It’s about seeing things in a new way. When people…change to a growth mindset, they change from…
My son Tucker seems to be growing up too fast. He’s almost four years old and getting ready to play in his first soccer league, going to pre-school, and we…
This is the third post in a three-part series on “Intentional Innovation.” Check out the other two posts here (#1 and #2). I know, I know. You’re saying, “AJ, why…
This is the first post in a three-part series on “Intentional Innovation”, specifically for education. Stay tuned for the second post, “The Intentional Innovation Manifesto” and the third post, “PLASMA:…
The police were on strike, yet we were still walking through the streets of Tembisa. It was the middle of July, but it wasn’t hot. We were in the southern…
Ahh, in service. Whether it is at the beginning of the school year, end of the school year, or smack dab in the middle of the school year…it seems like…
I cringe when people ask me, “Are you handy?” Partly because I don’t consider myself to be the best with tools, but also because it is asking me to judge whether…
“This atmosphere of excitement, arising from imaginative consideration, transforms knowledge. A fact is no longer a bare fact: it is invested with all its possibilities. It is no longer a…
I am by habit a bibliophile. I read at least 25 pages of a book per day which usually turns in to 40-60 books per year. I’ve written a few…
