When I started on this writing journey seven years ago, there were a couple of things I knew for sure. I wanted to share experiences through writing. Something different was…
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As a student I couldn’t even guess what my teachers were doing when they weren’t teaching. Mostly because I did not care enough to pay attention. Sure, I knew the impact…
I had to share this story. Last week I had the opportunity to take a group of students from our High School to the Franklin Institute. It was the first…
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…
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…
“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…
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,…
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…
Yesterday 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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Architects design, master their craft while planning, and collaborate at a high level. Masons work in the moment, communicate and problem solve on the fly, and master their craft as…
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…
Equity. It means many different things to many different people in many different situations. To me, equity is everything in education. I believe education is the bridge to opportunity and…
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…
Note: This is the final article in a four-part series answering the question, “Does education really need to change?“. You can read the first, second, and third posts here. It…
I leaned over the shoulder of a student in the library. She was quietly working with headphones in, and completely focused. What caught my attention is that she would continually…
Note: This is the first post in a four-part series. You can read the second, third, and fourth articles in the series here. The year was 2007. I was a relatively…
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…
You ever have one of those moments where you wonder what you are doing with your life? I mean, at the very least, you are like me and have had…
I remember devouring “Choose Your Own Adventure” books as a kid. I’m sure many of you had the same experience as the “hero of your own story” making choices that…
“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…
It’s fall. The mornings are cool, the nights are brisk, and the days pop with color. It reminds me, always, of football. I played for seven years and then coached…
Michael Port shares a story (in his book) about a donkey, an old man, and a boy: An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The…
I’m asking because I recently asked myself this question. Do I really (truly) believe in the power of technology to transform education? It’s easy to come back with a quick…
Here in Philadelphia we spent the weekend watching and listening to the Pope during his visit. People were glued to their televisions and devices when the Pope gave a talk…
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…
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 with…
It is a new school year and I’m so excited to see many teachers and schools starting Genius Hour or 20% Projects for the first time! As I mentioned to…
Last year over 2000 educators signed up to learn more about classroom design, as we launched the first ever Classroom Cribs challenge! We had four amazing grand finalist winners and…
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:…
This quote, from John Quincy Adams, speaks to me on many different levels. The son of a great man, John Quincy realized that leadership is about actions. And how those…
This is an awesome guest post from Aaron Hogan. Aaron is a HS Assistant Principal who blogs regularly at Afhogan.com and you can also find him on Twitter. I love…
And it turns out that tribes (not money, not factories) can change our world, can change politics, that can align large numbers of people. Not because you force them to…
It’s been five years since I joined Twitter. To be honest, I didn’t know what Twitter was all about when I joined. I knew that I wanted to share what…
Last week I asked you to fill out a survey about professional development. Many of you (342 to be exact) took time to fill out this survey and share your…
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…
Professional development is needed now more than any other time. With the change of pace in learning, and the changing lives of our learners, we must teach different to meet…
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 I first saw this infographic (created by Dr. Roland Rios) based on Schlechty’s Levels of Engagement, it actually took me a moment to collect my thoughts. I quickly asked myself,…
It’s almost here! TEDxPennsburgED is finally happening in one week, and we’ll be broadcasting it live to the world (at Upper Perkiomen High School) on May 7th from 12:30-4:30pm (EST)….
Learning By Choice: 10 Ways Choice and Differentiation Create an Engaged Learning Experience for Every Student (my new book) is now available as a Paperback! You can get it here on Amazon…
“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…
First, I just want to say thank you to all of my blog readers for helping make my new book, Learning By Choice, hit #1 in Amazon in Education over the weekend….
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 remember doing podcast projects with my students almost 10 years ago. They seemed to be all the rage at the time, and I jumped on board as a teacher…
Get good grades they say. Take Honors and AP classes they say. Go to college they say. Get a good internship they say. Get a good job and work hard…
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…
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…
My first season as a head football coach, our team had gone undefeated leading up to the final game of the season. We had a heck of a team with…
And just like that…it was over. I’d pitched the 20% time project to my students with only a few days of planning, but it turned out to be the project…
I’ve had the pleasure of working with a lot of new teachers the past three years, and I’ve seen many of the same mistakes I made during my first year…
This is a guest post from Allison Stephens, our HS Assistant Principal at Upper Perkiomen SD. It’s so great to see all of our building level administrators on Twitter engaging,…
Imagine you’ve been teaching for 15 years. In those 15 years you have grown as a professional, learned new technologies, shifted with the standards, had new initiative after new initiative…
It’s no secret we live in a consumption driven culture. Millennials spend 18 hours a day consuming media (much of this is done while multi-tasking so the number of actual…
This is my 2014 New Year’s post. Making the switch from goals to habits really made a change in my life, and here is the reasoning behind it! It’s the…
The new year always brings new hope. Whereas in the past I’ve been hopeful for change and progress throughout education…this year I’m feeling different. This year I’m pumped about where…
“Students engaged in direct experience with materials, unforeseen obstacles, and serendipitous discoveries may result in understanding never anticipated by the teacher.” ― Sylvia Libow Martinez, Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in…
“Scratch Your Itch” Education is my favorite way to describe the inquiry-based learning process. It always starts with an itch, and you never know what is going to happen once…
Bobby was an 11th grade student in my English class…and he was angry. “I don’t understand this project, Mr. J. What are we being graded on and when is it…
Each school year I try to take a new approach and have a renewed focus on my work as an educator. As a teacher this would often be impacted by…
It wasn’t too long ago that I was coming out of HS into college with the world at my fingertips. What I wanted then was a little different that what…
I’ve always been a morning person, so maybe it is easier for me…but when I wake up in the morning (usually at 5am) I have a couple of options: Do…
Growing up as a kid I couldn’t wait for Color Day. It was my school’s “Field Day” except…it was epic. When you entered school as a kindergartener (or in any…
Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom is Here! First, I want to say how thankful I am to so many of you that have helped me with my book, asked…
This week, my book — Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom: Using 20% Time, Genius Hour, and PBL to Drive Student Success — will finally be available. I’m excited, a bit nervous for people…
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…
This is the second post in the “Innovative Teaching Challenge” series. To get every challenge sent to your inbox, sign up here. Ahh, the sweet smell of failure. As students…
Maybe you’ve had the same challenge I’ve been dealing with for the past seven years in education…things change rapidly. And the only reason it is a “challenge” is understanding which…
A few months ago I wrote a post titled “10 Commandments of Innovative Teaching”. I didn’t expect it to be so well received, but teachers loved the idea behind some…
To be honest, I was lost. Elementary teaching was something so new to me when I took a job last year as a K-12 Technology Staff Developer. And still to…
I’m not a programmer, but I’m a bit of a “hacker”. I learned how to build websites without learning code. I’ve made logos without really understanding design. And I enjoy…
This is not about technology. This is about hope. This is about impact. And it’s about choice. Over the past few months I’ve been hit multiple times with the same…
I used to think all I needed to create something that mattered was passion…I was wrong. It turns out passion might start the engine and get the creative process moving,…
Joanne’s mother had died a few years earlier, and now she was a single parent (recently divorced) with no job, living off welfare benefits so she could provide for her…
“Be Yourself. Everyone else is taken.” – Oscar Wilde As I look back on the past year I realize how many different people inspired me. I was inspired to write…
If you are going through a deep period of reflection (or even a short period) and are thinking about how to live your life in the new year…I urge you…
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…
I’m really excited to share some awesome news! I’ve been working on my first published (by Routledge) book for the past year. It’s been a learning process throughout, but now…
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…
Two years ago on 11/11/11 my wife and I brought home our two-week old baby boy. Our 2 year old daughter didn’t quite understand the adoption process, but that didn’t…
Josh Kaufman’s recent book, “The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything Fast” really got me thinking. Many of us are familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 hours” approach to becoming…
Two years ago at this time 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…
I read a lot of posts and books on the need to “innovate” in education. The authors say similar things: We need to use more technology. We need to engage…
Every now and then I’m blown away by something I find online. This happened today, when I stumbled across the “GRIT Rubric” created by the College Track program in San…
There is a famous quote from Albert Einstein that many teachers like to quote: “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a…
I didn’t fail out of high school. But I sure wasn’t a “good student”. While many of my friends took Honors and AP level courses, I stayed on the “regular”…
If you follow my blog, or connect with me on Twitter, you’ll know that we are in the middle of the 20% Project MOOC. This course has been amazing thus…
Remember waiting? We used to wait for our favorite song on the radio. We used to wait for a TV show to come on and watch simultaneously with millions of…
