EPS Ideas Blog

Christian Long spoke at TEDxOverlake last year, and had lunch with a few of us to talk about using design thinking in education. This is a nice description of the value of DT in schools, especially in project-based learning. It also touches on Prototype Camp, which a few of our students attended earlier this year.

Those of you that are thinking about moving (or if you've already moved) 'content delivery' outside the classroom (i.e., flipped instruction), this is a nice list of 'best practices' to use as a checklist for doing it well. It's more general pedagogy that specific tasks, but great advice just the same.

Looking for some interesting perspective on math concepts? Then take a look at Vihart's You Tube Chanel. Fibonacci goodness, Mobius Strips etc.

This pretty much puts the sum of everything I've ever done with my life to shame. Why don't we require all of our kids to learn some basic doing again? 

Another one of games. This one focusing on empathy. Really difficult to teach, but one that is a crucial part of success in games and competition.

People Learn Best and Most Deeply When:

Is anyone doing anything in their classes that could be entered here? Are we walking the walk?

I do recognize that we have our policies set, but it's always good to question policy.

Good advice for all of us, especially as we look at bringing these things into the MS.

Personal learning vs. personalized learning - are we using 1:1 to improve what we do, or to change how our kids learn?

Is this really the best use of three weeks of our school year?

How much of what we do is college prep, and how much is prep for being independent of teachers and formal learning institutions?

EdCamp is a series of unconferences, meaning people get together, offer to give presentations, then determine a schedule by the requests of attendees. This one is the day after the NAIS conference at the Northwest School.

A thoughtful post on assessing creative thought.

Becoming an expert requires practicing like an expert - not talent, with few exceptions.

I'm just saying...

Many people say they value innovation, but have a psychological bias against implementing new ideas. I wonder if educators are representative of the general population.

A great description of the power of tech in the classroom. Unfortunately, I agree whole-heartedly with the conclusion the author draws toward the end: teachers often don't determine how the kids will spend their time on what's best, but what's most comfortable and familiar for the teacher.

Good advice on meeting the needs of your kids during projects

A little more on the difference between individualized instruction and personalized learning. This is a trend that isn't going away - nearly all of the major new releases in education technology is supporting personalized learning.