Questions and Elemeducon.
Shared by CarbonNYC on Flickr I left Educon 2.4 with questions. I think that’s the point. For every new “a-ha” moment, a handful of extending questions surfaced in my brain. Some energized me, some...
View ArticleA conversation with Heidi Hayes Jacobs
Photo by Dan Callahan It was a privilege to spend my time at ASCD as a member of the press. On Sunday at an author’s luncheon, I had the chance to speak with Heidi Hayes Jacobs along with several...
View ArticleA strong #ascd12 finish with Todd Whitaker
My first introduction to the work of Todd Whitaker was through reading his book, What Great Principals Do Differently: 15 Things that Matter Most. Todd’s writing style immediately captured my...
View ArticleFirst week reflections.
We’ve wrapped up our first week of school, the start of my fifth year as principal at Brecknock. As a principal, you just never really know how the year will begin. I did know a few things before...
View ArticleReactions.
Last week I received a direct message tweet from a former administrative colleague, asking me if I had seen the “gangnam style” video that was dubbed “the worst video on the entire internet.” He told...
View ArticleThe care effect
There was an article in the most recent issue of Wired magazine that sparked my thinking. It didn’t detail the latest gadgets or technological innovations, or deal with the field of education, yet it...
View ArticleCommunity.
Years ago, when I heard the word community, I thought of my childhood home and the town in which we lived, a rural town where I was free to walk to the playground, the park, the pool, and my friends’...
View ArticleTeaching is learning!
When you’re an administrator, you’re forced to take a step back from the majesty that is teaching and those daily, engaging interactions with students. Yes, some admin teach a course or class or small...
View ArticleConnect to win.
A little birdie told me it’s Connected Educator Month. If you’re reading this, and if you’re new to “connecting,” you might be curious about a day in the life of a “connected” educator. About how we...
View ArticleTell me about it.
How do you approach the process of investigating a new product, app, program, instructional strategy, device, software, hardware, curriculum, [insert new initiative here]? From a purchasing standpoint,...
View ArticleBlogging for learning.
This year, we are using Edublogs K-12 in our district. We’ve had only a few short weeks to introduce teachers to the platform officially (and some teachers may not lay eyes on it until after school...
View ArticleFirst steps at protecting students’ privacy.
I admit that at one point in time I was one of those educators who allowed students to sign into a site using a teacher’s credentials in order to gain access, for example, some of our intermediate...
View ArticleIt changes us.
I remember the moment in time when I learned how to copy and paste. My parents bought our family an Apple IIGS when I was in junior high school. It was our first personal computer. It was the device...
View ArticleDo you let your kids use Google?
I recently attended Pete & C, PA’s educational technology conference. It’s the fifth or sixth time I’ve attended. I typically find some interesting resources and enjoy connecting with members of...
View ArticleWhy not?
Scott McLeod has issued a #makeschooldifferent challenge and asks us to acknowledge 5 ways of doing business in schools and how to think differently about what it means to teach and learn to support...
View ArticleI Remember.
Image via Wikimedia Commons I remember building with blocks. Naps on mats. Performing in a Christmas play. I remember being asked to sit in my teacher’s rocking chair and read Charlotte’s Web to my...
View ArticleSome thoughts on rotational learning.
Oh, hey, blog. How you been? One of the things I enjoy most about reading others’ blogs and tweets and Google+ postings is that I get a glimpse into what other schools and classrooms are up to. In the...
View ArticleReconsidering what’s “required”
Busy student bloggers. Blogging isn’t “required”… should we make time for it? Recently I read a post by my friend Bill Ferriter titled Making Room for Uncertainty in the Required Curriculum. Bill...
View ArticleConstructive conversations
I recently had the opportunity to use World Cafe for supporting conversation and action with a fine group of educators at the Bucks-Lehigh Edusummit. Ross Cooper was my co-host. Our goal? To discuss...
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