Finding Balance

My original title for this image and this post was ‘Impossible Balance’, but it was too defeatist. I also realize that many more ‘rocks’ (or maybe ‘roles’) could have been added to the right side of the scale: Spirituality, Alone Time, Commuting, Hygiene, and (Social) Networking, to name a few. No matter what occupies your […]

What Did You Learn at School Today – Parent Presentation

Here is the ‘Parent’ version of my #RSCON presentation: Shifting Learning – What Did You Learn at School Today? I did this presentation just a couple days before the Reform Symposium and it really is similar… Shorter, and with questions at the end geared more to parents than teachers, but essentially the same presentation. You […]

Shifting-Learning-What-Did-You-Learn-4-Educators-Cover-Image

Shifting Learning – Presentation for RSCON4

Shifting Learning  – What Did You Learn At School Today? We hear a lot these days about project based learning, inquiry based learning, etc… What does that mean? What does it look like when schools shift away from “drill and kill” learning towards big ideas, questions, and “no right answer” kind of learning? And what […]

Learning and Failure

  Failure can be very unproductive. It can stem from a lack of effort, resources, support, knowledge, and reflection. Failure can also be an amazing tool for learning, and perhaps one that every student should experience before graduation. Stephen Whiffin, who conceptualized the Inquiry Hub, suggested that every student should have ‘My Epic Failure’ as […]

"Siwash Rock - Storytelling - by David Truss"

6 key ingredients to the art of storytelling

It seems to me that storytelling should be an intricate part of what we do, and what we teach in schools. In my first year at university I had the privilege of taking history with proffesor Gunnar Beonhart. He was one of the reasons why former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, brought the 1983 […]