We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ~Aristotle I think that we sometimes lose sight of what is important. We focus on individual acts, or in schools, individual assignments, and on praising final products and presentations. We often lose sight of the continual work, the tireless editing […]
Tag: motivation
If They Can
One of my favourite quotes in education is from Ross Greene, “Kids do well if they can”. I’ve shared this video many times and have reached the point where I don’t remember who I have and have not shared it with. (I’ve probably shared it on this blog before.) Kids Do Well if They Can […]
Godin – The cost of neutral
In a compelling blog post, ‘The cost of neutral‘, Seth Godin says, “Not adding value is the same as taking it away.” The short, poignant post is directed to you, the individual reader, and urges you to step up, participate, and do more than what you are expected or told to do. Godin is essentially […]
Classes of Donkeys
I read an article in Mind/Shift recently that really bothered me. It was the title that drew me in: “What Works in Tech Tools: Spotlight on ClassDojo“. I had already seen that ClassDojo was a behaviour management tool and thought, ‘Really? This is a tech tool that works?’ From the article: HOW IT WORKS Each […]
WOW: Bringing Science Alive! (wiki)
What happens when you: Allow students to determine what they need to learn, and then enable students to manage their own learning activities? I recently started a wiki space for my Grade 8 Science classes called Science Alive! The concept is to let students choose their own topic to explore, and then demonstrate learning on […]
Articulate Your Thinking… (an e-mail correspondence)
In my last post about my Numeracy Tasks Pro-D session with Peter Liljedahl, I mentioned an e-mail I wrote almost 3 years ago. I dug up that e-mail and found an interesting ‘conversation’ between Gary Kern and I. My comments are after the e-mails. – – – – – From:David Sent:May 10, 2004 9:55 PM […]
Alan November and Authentic Audience
I heard Alan November speak tonight and although there were many great ideas, one key idea hit a cord with me. “Students will work harder for an authentic audience than for a grade”…”Students will do more if they leave a legacy beyond a grade.” The technology is there! I remember for a couple weeks after […]