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Words Matter: A short blog post in which I attempt to convince people that words have power and we should consider the complexities of messages before just taking things at face value…
Media literacy. We talk about how students need this skill. But it’s not just them. It’s adults, too. Educators even. Media literacy is defined by the Media Literacy Project as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. Media literate youth and adults are better able to understand the complex messages we receive from…
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Design Thinking the Design Thinking Process
6th graders redesigned the design thinking graphic based on a deeper understanding of the elements of design thinking.
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Do What Scares You!
Remember, observe the masses and do the opposite. Do what scares you… that’s when the exciting stuff happens.” — James Caan, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw The other day I jumped on a Twitter convo about HyperDocs which evolved into a conversation about the state of education… (come to think of it, many…
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Designing From The Heart
I have been reading quite a few books on design, but none have actually been designed with the elegance of this human: how to be the person designing for other people by Melis Senova, PhD. I did not want to finish reading it because I was enjoying the content and layout so much. Luckily, it’s the…
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Compliant Geniuses? Think Again.
Our district mission statement centers around our calling to “ignite genius and empower students to advance the world.” That’s a pretty tall order! Especially when, as Seth Godin explains (“The Long Term” podcast), students typically spend 90-95% of their school day on either doing what they’re told, aka compliance, or finding the right answer, also…
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Why Don’t We Put the Bed in the Kitchen?
I grew up in an Italian family. That meant a lot of our family gatherings were centered around food. Lots and lots of food. And since most food preparation happens in the kitchen, it came to be that a lot of family gathering and conversations happened around the kitchen as well. Apparently this same phenomena…
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Eat a Good Breakfast and Get Plenty of Sleep!
Motivational sayings, cards, and activities are huge during State testing, but why not the rest of the school year?
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Is It Possible to Do Good Better?
William Macaskill and colleagues developed effective altruism, which uses data and some snazzy principles to help people make a huge difference in the world. By asking “How can I make the biggest difference I can?” and then using evidence and reasoning to find the answer, can our students become better design thinkers?
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There’s More to Her Than Meets the Eye
When school dress codes focus the majority of their attention on what girls should not be allowed to wear, it sends a message. A powerful message. A message that girls are the problem. Their bodies are distracting to boys. And that boys shouldn’t have to be responsible for curtailing their sexist behavior. This needs to…
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I Have Fallen in Love with Cad Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies, and T-Shaped People!
Well, not literally! But I did thoroughly enjoy the book Cad Monkeys. Dinosaur Babies, and T-Shaped People: Inside the World of Design Thinking and How it Can Spark Creativity and Innovation by Warren Berger (That title is quite a mouthful!!). If you don’t believe me, consider the fact that I used up almost all of…
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Countdowns Suck. Yes, I said it.
I wanted to write earlier…I really did. So many blog posts have been ruminating in my brain the past few weeks. But I’ve had a major life event happen. And I needed time to process. And that meant taking a break from my blog. So what happened? My oldest daughter, Alexandra, enlisted in the U.S.…
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A Rubric is Not an Authentic Audience
Yesterday, as I told my comp class about style and audience and the need to write what one cares about for a reader who wants to understand, one student said the most important thing I’ve ever heard: “I’ve never had an audience in my life. My audience is a rubric.” — Matt Tierney (@figuralities) April…
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Laura K Spencer, Ed.D. 