-
Jidoka: Applying the “Human Touch”
When I met my boyfriend, he was driving a 1991 Toyota Corolla. It was quite the jalopy. The upholstery had seen better days. There were dents and rust. But it ran. It always ran. Not only did my much newer Ford have more service appointments than that Corolla, but the Corolla also got better gas
-
Use the [Internal] Force, Luke!
When people feel like they can experience success in a situation, they have more reason to put forth the effort to do so. If they feel like a situation is hopeless, or out of their control, why bother? This is the concept behind Attribution Theory. In other words, if I work hard (internal) at this,
-
Become a Better Human.
My 15 year old daughter started a blog. A blog to encourage and empower teens based on her experiences and views of the world. Her second post is titled, “…like a girl.” In it, she talks about the negative impact the statement “like a girl” has on girls, and that girls are just as “strong
-
Reflect On Our Practice
“We are generating more information and knowledge than ever today, but knowledge is only good if you can reflect on it.” Thomas L. Friedman, Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations I had the pleasure of being interviewed the other day by an educator pursuing an advanced
-
Belonging to the Tribe
I wasn’t the most athletic kid growing up. Haha. Who am I fooling? I’m still not athletic. I tripped trying to run to first base because my legs were moving faster than my body. I fell playing kickball because my foot landed on top of the ball instead of kicking the ball. I sometimes run
-
PSA: How to check your FB App Sharing Permissions
This may seem out of the norm for my usual posts, but as a former EdTech/IT Director, I think it’s important that you know how to limit what information you share with apps you have connected to your Facebook. This Cambridge Analytica data fiasco should be a wake up call for all of us. Understand
-
Do Not Read This Blog Post!
I was at a local event the other day that was filled with young children and their parents. The children were getting faces painted, collecting Easter eggs, and taking photos with the Easter bunny. As you can imagine, it was a bit… chaotic. Parents chasing children, shouting phrases like: “Don’t run off ahead of me!”
-
Making Lunch Great Again!
I had the pleasure of listening to 5th grade students share their proposals to relaunch the lunch experience at their school. There were a few issues that the students were looking to solve: Students who get hot lunch need healthy, delicious food choices everyday to include vegetarian choices in order to avoid food and money
-
Empathy + Action = Activist
The other day I walked in to the art classroom at one of our elementary schools. Third graders were on a mission. As artists, how might we use our creative voices to affect change in our school? our community? our world? Specifically: To get humans to use less plastic and/or dispose of plastic properly to
-
Speak Up, Rinse, Repeat
From Adam Grant’s Originals book: When Harvard professor John Kotter studied change agents years ago, he found that they typically undercommunicated their visions by a factor of ten. On average, they spoke about the direction of the change ten times less often than their stakeholders needed to hear it. In one three-month period, employees might
-
The Importance of Awe in Education
This is what it’s all about: “We should be teaching our youth with the intrinsic rewards of awe as opposed to the extrinsic reward of grades. It is what’s needed to nurture a generation that is excited to learn, improve themselves, and contribute to human progress. Such is where awe-based education will re-define the entire
-
Crafting a Purpose-Filled Culture
Three signals are required to create a great culture, according to Daniel Coyle, author of The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. One of these signals is crafting purpose. “Be Ten Times as Clear About Your Priorities as You Think You Should Be.” Executives at 600 companies were asked how many of their
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Laura K Spencer, Ed.D. 