Can school be a place where students come because they are delighted to be there, feeling entrusted with and engaged in their learning? Not just because “it’s the law” (the answer to one of my student’s recent Ungame question: “What do you think about school?”) Just one month ago today, I learned about “genius hour”, […]
#Geniushour was last week. Students products are posted here. The following post has their answers to evaluation questions about their work during #geniushour. NOTE on 12/6/2011 – The last student finally completed the evaluation, so I am updating the stats below with all the student data. I’m also using a new feature I just learned […]
Ouch…I just re-read Ewan McIntosh’s post, “20% Time and Schools: Not the Best of Bedfellows.” I must say, as much as I respect his work, I disagree with most of this post. Especially this bolded line, jumping out at us in his first paragraph: But in schools, [20% Time] often seems to fall short of […]
It’s coming! More and more learning outside the school walls. Tonight I was checking my email and sending announcements to my school secretary, when I received a chat message from a student. “When do I need to take that science test?” “I think you better do it by Wednesday.” (With a long holiday weekend coming […]
I’m participating in the Authors Take Action #ClimatePoemProject. You can find links to climate poetry prompts from your favorite children’s authors, poets, and Poetry Friday bloggers right here. 🡠 Today, we’re going to write an invitation poem about something in nature. Here is an invitation that Mary Oliver wrote asking her readers to take time […]
This post is week 1 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators. Starting this week, we will reflect on the unusual nature of the last school year. The challenge is a way to share our reflections, debrief a difficult year. As Penny wrote: “Let’s share the experiences that many of us struggled with […]
My writing practice has been sporadic and lacking commitment my whole life. One possible culprit, which I look at as an “Oops!” is when I destroyed a few years worth of my journals early in my twenties. Why? I was embarrassed someone would read them. I’m not sure anyone would have been patient enough to […]
I am the queen of NOT having rituals that help me get into a creative mindset. In the mornings I wake up early or late. I exercise or not. I eat first or I shower first. I have few if any steady rituals for life, much less for creative time and space. I’ve been trying […]