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5 ways to innovate using better questions | thedesigngym.com
How to facilitate with questions that have (many) more than just one good answer. Strong ways to think about promoting the flare!
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“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
#MustRead Shares (weekly)
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Think you’re doing PBL? You might not be. | GHS Innovation Lab
A great comparison of project-oriented activity vs. project-based learning.
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Matthieu Ricard: How to let altruism be your guide | Talk Video | TED.com
If we people in schools are in the business of the brain, as well as of the heart, shouldn’t we pay attention to work like this? And I don’t mean it in any sort of mushy way. These are not “soft skills;” they are essential mindsets.
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d.school: the whiteboard | #DSXOAK: A prototype school comes to life
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“The current school model is still building kids to navigate the 19th and 20th century.” That model is meant to “manage humanity instead of inspire it.”
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“We don’t have teachers in this school, we have catalysts,” said David. “We are here to help you realize … your purpose.”
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The other element challenged is control. Where traditional classrooms my have teachers focusing on how best to gain and maintain control, David is testing the power of trust and stepping back.
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#MustRead Shares (weekly)
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Seth’s Blog: You are what you share
You are what you share http://t.co/QEtOzIDAEQ via @thisissethsblog
#MustRead Shares (weekly)
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How Lego Became The Apple Of Toys | Fast Company | Business + Innovation
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Consider This for 2015 | Design MovementConsider This for 2015 – Design Movement
A pressing leadership responsibility revealed through trend spotting of some essential reads and reflection.
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Doctor, Shut Up and Listen – NYTimes.com
About the critical importance of listening and empathy as a core competence of being a doctor. Is empathy development part of your pre-med thinking?
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A review of reports by the Joint Commission, a nonprofit that provides accreditation to health care organizations, found that communication failure (rather than a provider’s lack of technical skill) was at the root of over 70 percent of serious adverse health outcomes in hospitals.
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A doctor’s ability to explain, listen and empathize has a profound impact on a patient’s care.
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The need to train and test physicians in “interpersonal and communication skills” was formally recognized only relatively recently, in 1999, when the American Board of Medical Specialties made them one of physicians’ key competencies.
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But we need to move away from the perception that social skills and better communication are a kind of optional extra for doctors. A good bedside manner is simply good medicine.
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Making Time
How do you plan for your strategic use of time?
In a culture that seems to take some kind of pride in talking about how busy we all are, it seems even more important that we purposefully plan for our time, so that we can ensure that we focus as much as possible on the essential and strategic. That is, if we are truly striving to do significant work and intentionally make a difference.
In the past, I’ve written about my approach to this strategic planning for use of my time…
- as placing the big rocks in the jar first – “Big Rocks First!” 8.3.2011
- as savings and investment strategy for best returns – “If time is money, then how are you investing yours as a school leader?” 1.15.2014
During the last days of 2014, I created my first prototype for my 2015 schedule paradigm.
For me, I create this schedule paradigm by engaging in some reflection about how I spent my time in the previous two semesters, and I calibrate those data and insights with how I perceive I need to spend my time relative to our strategic goals and objectives as a school.
Then, I ask for feedback…
Dear All:
I don’t mean to interrupt your break. I’m simply getting something into your inboxes for when you return to work. (Happy New Year!)
I’m sharing my “schedule paradigm” prototype for semester two, 2014-15. And I have two requests of each of you, which I hope will only take 5-15 minutes max.
1. Because you are the people with whom I work most closely, I want you to be aware that this is my current thinking about how I plan to structure my recurrent time for second semester. [Most of you know that I do this every August and January to “put the big rocks in the jar first.” Here’s a 2011 blog post, if you’re interested, where I first explain this practice of mine.]
*2. I’d love any of your thoughts, comments, questions, and feedback on how I’ve structured my time plan (which I call a “schedule paradigm”).
Some of the questions I already know I have:
- As I try to ramp up my CLIO time, how might I get back into weekly work with Preschool, Lower School, and Middle School? Is there a regular weekly/monthly way for me to get re-involved with the other divisions? What do Kelly, Shelley, and Chip + Katie and Nicole see as those opportunities?
- How might Mary and I return to regular meet-ups to strategically work on DT across divisions and curricula? How might we include Jim?
- How can I best support Meghan in the development of iDiploma’s big picture, as well as with the on-the-ground work this semester?
- How can I best support Kristyn with the (i)Project development and future framework?
- What support/co-labor do the other US SLT members need that I am not providing them?
- How might I stay focused on the Progress Monitoring System work across divisions, and especially in Upper School this semester?
- How do I best ensure that I am in classrooms at least 8-10 hours per week?
- Is there enough white space for people to come get me, drop in, schedule time for all the things that I don’t know yet will come up but that always seem to?
- How do I best prioritize #fuse15 ramp up?
- How do I best do my share of the leadership and heavy lifting for the intensive work that MVIFI needs?
Thanks!
Bo
The feedback I receive from my peer and colleagues is invaluable. From their questions and ideas, I’m already adjusting parts of the schedule so that my plans for strategic time allocation align and synergize with theirs.
As you do your work to lead a school, classroom, project, venture, company, or other endeavor, how do you make time? I’d love to learn from you via comments and links you might leave here.
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This post first appeared on It’s About Learning 1.10.2015