If I’ve learned one thing in 25 years of workshop facilitation, it’s the importance of experiential exercises. You almost have to wonder whether John Dewey, an American philosopher whose ideas still shape education, had been to a boring, lecture-only type…
“Morning meeting time to build relationships? When they’re already asking us to teach more content than students can master? What a joke,” the middle school math teacher told me. Content and relationships do seem like competing priorities, don’t they? After…
Every January, I page back through my Goodreads.com lists to celebrate the books I found most meaningful during the past twelve months. I prefer to call myself a bibliophile, not a reading addict, but squeezing in 120 books last year…
An off-the-cuff math question, “How much do you suppose they’re making off this ridiculous spectacle?” turned an excruciatingly dull evening into a creative endeavor. Yep, a math question. The other chaperones and I were hostages to a truly ghastly theatrical performance.…
Imagine giving a homework assignment that your students can't wait to start. Sounds like you'd need to wave a magic wand, doesn't it? But I just received such an assignment: Examine in detail the opening to Joss Whedon's science-fiction move Serenity,…
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett is a perfect example of the Truth with a capital T that fiction conveys in ways that nonfiction cannot. In the closing pages of this crazy novel, where... Well, I won't tell you how to do away…
Once a year I look back through my list at goodreads.com to ID the top five books that most inspired me. As an author and consultant, just about any book might be “THE book” that inspires my own work. That means I can…
Are your students curious, exploring ideas or questions on their own? Or do they sigh with relief and go back to sports or social media or other pastimes once the bell rings? Yes we all need downtime, but look at…
Have you noticed there’s a Women in Leadership Conference in November ? In New Orleans? Are you thinking, "Why an event just for women? Isn’t ‘cross-pollination’ between genders a better way to improve the lives of children?” If you’re a female…
I’ve been writing about how effort and perseverance without capacity and readiness simply aren’t enough. (Check out my past posts on grit and effort.) They’re all interdependent. Ignore either side and you simply won’t get where you want to go.…