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“The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide,’ just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider.’ ” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”

The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought.

The act of writing is an important way for students to learn by processing their ideas into coherent and organized form;Writing should be done across various curriculum areas and not be taught in isolation;Students should write for various audiences; At times, they may write just for themselves, for the classroom or, sometimes, for the world;Technology can be a useful tool for composing various forms of writing and media, including audio podcasts and video;Writing should be authentic and allow students to make connections between school and the world outside of school;Artistic elements and the concept of design play a role in the way that young people compose writing and other media;Reading quality books and stories of various genres provide an insight into the writing process and allow students to reflect, connect and utilize critical thinking skills;All students can succeed and improve as writers and readers and composers of multimedia.

guiding exercises in text translation: pulling up a MySpace page or a lingo-drenched school paper and asking students to translate the writing into standard English. Or they ask students to translate passages from classic literature into texting speak to demonstrate their comprehension of the writing and to create a form of multilingual focus, similar to how learning a foreign language tends to enhance a student's understanding of his or her native tongue.

A bit of stress, a bit of ambiguity, and a bit of confusion are healthy contributors to learning. As long as we have a feedback loop where learners can contribute and faculty can respond and adapt, we have the basics in place. Connections are the starting point of all learning. It's so obvious...and therefore so often overlooked. We really need to think about types of connections learners have with each other and content...and ways that we can extend the learning experience by critically analyzing and forming those initial connections.