Author Archives: boadams1

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About boadams1

Learner. Husband. Dad. Mountaineer. Head of School at Mackintosh Academy - Boulder, in Boulder, Colorado. Have worked in transformation design, educational innovation, and school leadership for 30+ years.

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  • 8 EduWins of 2013 | Edutopia

    “We’re always hearing about how education is so messed up — so often, the conversation focuses on all the negatives. But there are also plenty of “EduWins,” too — awesome ideas, videos, people, programs, practices, products, Tweeters, teachers, and technologies that are making a difference and changing the lives of real students on a global scale.

    Indeed, as technology continues to quietly revolutionize learning, and models like project-based learning become more broadly accepted, and neuroscience deepens our understanding of how our miraculous brains actually work, it is no surprise that so much is changing in education. And — as with any change — there is the good and the bad.

    So we asked our intrepid team of bloggers to reflect on this year’s biggest eduwins, and here are their thoughts.”

    tags: edutopia trends wins #MustRead innovation

  • Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement | Edutopia

    “A while back, I was asked, “What engages students?” Sure, I could respond, sharing anecdotes about what I believed to be engaging, but I thought it would be so much better to lob that question to my own eighth graders. The responses I received from all 220 of them seemed to fall under 10 categories, representing reoccurring themes that appeared again and again. So, from the mouths of babes, here are my students’ answers to the question: “What engages students?””

    tags: engagement Edutopia Student Voice #MustRead

  • Why Schools Don’t Educate – The Natural Child Project

    A haunting, provocative, inspiring, and courageous expression of beliefs around the core differences between “schooling” and “education,” given as the acceptance speech when John Taylor Gatto received the Teacher of the Year Award in New York in 1990. [HT: @ChipHouston1976]

    tags: education school edreform transformation real-world #MustRead

  • http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/06_AdditionalResources/makingthinkingvisibleEL.pdf

    “What Is Visible Thinking?
    Six key principles anchor Visible Thinking and characterize our approach in schools.”

    #4. “Fostering thinking requires making thinking visible. Thinking happens mostly in our heads, invisible to others and even to ourselves. Effective thinkers make their thinking visible, meaning they externalize their thoughts through speaking, writing, drawing, or some other method. They can then direct and improve those thoughts. Visible Thinking also emphasizes documenting thinking for later reflection.” 

    [HT: @cliffordshelley]

    tags: visiblethinking VTR thinking #MustRead

  • Seth’s Blog: Heroes of the revolution

    tags: revolution heroes #MustRead

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

PROCESS POST: Contemplating innovation, homework, practice…and their intersections. Iteration One.

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There is much talk of “innovation” in schools and education these days. (There’s much talk of innovation in just about every sector and industry.)

I wonder if we – those of us in schools – are really facilitating the experiences that student learners need to practice, to be and to become innovators.

Now, upon a great deal of my research and study about innovation, when I hear the word innovation, I think about the five traits and characteristics outlined in The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators.

And, I also think about homework. Yep, homework.

Innovators DNA - 5 Skills Slide

What if we simply assigned those five verbs as homework for our student learners?

  • Observe
  • Question
  • Experiment
  • Network
  • Associate

What if the student learners came to school each day with stories and inquiries about how and what and whom they…

  • Observed
  • Questioned
  • Experimented with
  • Networked, and
  • Associated?

What if these organizers were the strands by which learners weaved their archives and documentations via their eportfolios? What if more of the time in school ignited from the fuses and sparks generated by these verbs and developing habits of mind?

How might we facilitate the engagements, the curiosities, and the pursuits that compel learners to be and become innovators….by, well, practicing the five skills of innovation?

How might we homework our way to better learning and to enhanced schooling?

How might we educate for the innovation we expect and need in our world?

Could it be that simple?

#PuttingOurPracticeWhereOurPurposeIs

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Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

What’s your school balance in terms of teaching subjects vs engaging purposes?

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From “‘The Coolest Thing Ever’: How A Robotic Arm Changed 4 Lives,” Joe Palca, NPR, Morning Edition, November 28, 2013 [HT @tnsatlanta]

The three Rice students heard about Dee in an unusual freshman engineering class. Instead of learning engineering principles from a book, students form teams to come up with engineering solutions for real-world problems.

And remember what Sir Ken Robinson said in September 2013 at colab:

The basics are not subjects. The basics are purposes.

What’s your school balance in terms of teaching subjects vs engaging purposes?

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Previous Posts in this Balance Series:

Ingredient School? Or Culinary School? What’s Your Balance?

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How would you think and feel about registering for “Ingredient School” instead of “Cooking School” or “Culinary School?”

On the first day, and everyday, you learn about the various ingredients and inputs for countless dishes. However, you rarely, if ever, actually get instruction, opportunity, and practice in combining the ingredients, experimenting with different recipes (even inventing recipes!), and tasting the concoctions created by actually mixing the ingredients and making a meal.

The course would actually be about grocery store shopping and refrigerator stocking, but the pots and pans would remain cabinetted, and the stove and oven would live without flame. You’d have to combine on your own time, without the support or benefit of your expert guide. You’d have to cook, finally, years later, on your own time.

What would you think? How would you feel?

What if the ingredients were math, English, science, social studies, etc.?

If you calculated the actual UX (user experience) and tabulated proportional time that learners spent dealing only in ingredients versus actually getting to cook something, what would your school profile look like?

[Blogger’s note: I’m so fortunate – blessed – to work and learn in a community that believes strongly in providing “cooking classes” and experimenting with preparing whole meals!]