As educators we are encouraged to teach our students to be problem solvers. We read about students as makers and creators. We can search the internet for Design Thinking Process graphics to guide our students. John Spencer and A.J. Juliani wrote a great book, LAUNCH, to mentor us into using Design Thinking in our classrooms. If you have not introduced your students to a Design Thinking…
I started this blog post back in the fall when social media was touting Digital Citizenship Week and Hour of Code. But I decided not to finish this thought. Well, last week we had #DigitalLearningDay and I found myself thinking about this idea again. It just so happened that on #DigitalLearningDay I was part of a team that had a fundraiser for my former school…
FOMO-Fear Of Missing Out. This is a real concern for educators and parents alike. Our students constantly using their digital devices to check their social media sites. Are their friends doing something “great?” Did they not get invited to something this weekend? Did they not watch the Netflix show that everyone will be talking about on Monday? But this is not just a “thing” for…
This past week was FETC, Future of Education Technology Conference, week on my calendar. I have been going to FETC for at least 5 years. Some years I have felt that I got more out of the workshops and presentations than other years. But I always go because I truly feel it is important to be a life long learner and FETC is in my…
I love the Olympics! Ask my family, I get excited as the Olympics gets closer. When I was teaching I always did some activities with my class related to the Olympics. As Principal, I made sure that our student run morning news had a medal count. I am secretly even happier with my decision to become an educational consultant because next month I can be glued…
A friend of mine has gone through a difficult illness. It makes me feel useless. I can’t fix this for her. I can be there for her. I can listen, go with her to doctors’ appointments. But I can’t make her better immediately! I can encourage her when she is frustrated and scared. But I can’t make the treatment go completely smoothly. I have learned…
Recently FAME, Florida Association for Media in Education (@floridamediaed), tweeted out a link to a TED Talk: How to Design a Library that Makes Kids Want to Read (https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_bierut_how_to_design_a_library_that_makes_kids_want_to_read). I watched this with the expectation that this would be about furniture or creating a Library/Makerspace. What I received instead was a lesson in perspective. My focus in the last few years has been to see…
I had coffee with a colleague the other day. In the course of our conversation, she told me how overwhelmed she was by her new position in a public school. This is her first year back teaching in a public school after a number of years in an independent school. But this is not her first year teaching, rather she has over a decade in…
Recently, parents have been more on my mind more than teachers. This may be because I gave a talk on Parenting in the Digital Age. Then I have seen multiple posts about having effective conversations with parents during conferences as well as on a routine basis. This prompted my own post: I would like to encourage a more collaborative approach to parents…a team approach. If…
So last week, my husband and I were on our first empty nest vacation. We came to a place that I have always wondered about. A place I have read about in many, many books. We came to London. So before we even left I was in a mental state of wonder. Will London look like my imagination? Have I been imagining an ancient London…
