Okay, so most of these are impractical (build your own skatepark anyone?) but #4 has me thinking. What would a hackathon for teachers look like? Hackathons are… “intensive, 24-hour (usually) marathons, engineers, designers and even non-tech employees meet to brainstorm and build “crazy” new ideas. Many will be left to gather dust once the hackathon is done, while a precious few will be further developed into prominent new features or even new and important products in their own right.” Imagine a sprint to create innovative classroom arrangements, curriculum structures, pedagogical… Read more How to Make Your [Workplace] Incredibly Awesome – Lifehack →
Spoiler alert: it’s about people. Positive emotions Engagement Relationships Meaning Achievement via Great Company Culture: 5 Building Blocks | Inc.com.
Shame the focus of this course is so heavily dependent on lectures, but this is the start of an avalanche of massive, open, online courses for high schools. Stand back! “High School Open On-line Courses (HOOC): A Case Study from Italy” http://feedly.com/k/14K6W54
This is a lose/lose situation for students. The textbook is the last refuge of an unimaginative teacher. The same content for everyone with the closest thing to personalisation being you read chapter 12 faster than me. But publishers moving to eBooks is not something to celebrate, because part of that process involves moving from an ownership model (I bought this book, it’s mine and I can share it with you) to a rental model (I have a licence to view this eBook but I don’t own it). Lose/lose. “Death of… Read more Death of the textbook? →
You’ll get much more traction with people if you work with them to solve a problem, ease their pain or scratch their itch. Getting people to do things because it’s ‘good for them’ has never worked that well. “Secret No. 1: Sell Aspirin, not Vitamins” http://feedly.com/k/14Nd1NY
“The impact of a great mentor: Gave me permission to be me. Encouraged me along the way. Acknowledged my success. Held me accountable. He expected results.” Can the people we mentor put a tick next to each of these? via How Peter Drucker Mentored | Leadership Freak.
“Some hours are priceless and some are worthless. You have to figure out the things that only you can do; those things that you aren’t able to outsource to anyone else on your team…Let’s say these hours are–at minimum–worth $1,000. The balance of your work is probably worth far less than that. The more time you spend in the $1,000 hour category, the more successful you’ll be.” “CEO Survival Guide: 30 Days to a Better Life” http://feedly.com/k/18tnXpy
“A new Stanford study shows that students learn better when first exploring an unfamiliar idea or concept on their own, rather than reading a text or watching a video first.” Aligns with what we know about the importance of engagement, but I know quite a few ‘Flipped Classrooms’ that don’t operate like this. Before Reading or Watching Videos, Students Should Experiment First | MindShift.
Leading Learning 