An Educational Journey in Wine
One sip at a time
One of the books I am reading to help with organizational change and specifically our Entrepreneur Track initiative is Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change by Joseph Grenny. This book, like many others on my reading list, are intended for the business world rather than the education world. This...
“There are three teachers of children: adults, other children, and their physical environment” (Cannon, 2009). This quote from Loris Malaguzzi expresses the importance of the learning environment as the “third teacher.” We have been transforming learning spaces at The Oakridge School for several years. We have totally revamped the look...
If you were at a formative age in 1997, you remember the Think Different campaign that coincided with Steve Jobs return to Apple. And you remember the advertisement that encouraged us to honor the “crazy ones.” Is our current educational system producing the Jim Hensons, the Richard Bransons, the Mohandas Ghandis, the...
We talked more and more often about the skills students will need to succeed in the future. Often times these surround technology, communication or collaboration skills. We don’t often think about the skills needed to be successful as a self-starter or freelancer. According to this Inc. post 27 million working-age Americans, almost...
As part of our school culture, our administration and Board of Regents collaborates to construct a long range plan. Last year we took a suggestion from Pat Bassett, former head of National Association of Independent Schools, and created teacher led Research and Design groups. These groups investigated different aspects of our long...
We know the business world our students are entering is different than the ones their parents entered. How should we be equipping our students to compete in a world that requires more entrepreneurial thinking? I believe we should consider an entrepreneurial track that would include an introductory class on the...
We often think of professional development and evaluations as something to be checked off. Evaluations mostly consist of a list of skills or competencies that are observed by an administrator once or twice a year. They are then evaluated on some type of scale that returns the summative assessment of...
I found it fascinating reading about The Domain of One’s Own initiative at University of Mary Washington (UMW). I love the concept of the students’ work existing outside the walled garden of a learning management system. It gives students’ an authentic audience for their work and a place to build...
When I think of my Personal Learning Network (PLN) and how I have constructed it I am reminded of the difference between personalized and personal. I like how author and educational consultant Will Richardson sums up his stance in his post entitled “This is Why “Personalized Learning” Will Fail.” He...
Digital Reflection It is interesting for me to reflect on my digital leadership as we start this program. In some ways I reflect upon a series of accomplishments I have achieved in this area while often I feel as though I have so far yet to go. My...
