Choice time for teacher Pro-D

Last Friday I had a Pro-D, Professional Development Day, with the Inquiry Hub staff. We started the morning with a book talk, sharing what we have learned from books we are reading. A few weeks ago, I had my teachers fill out a form sharing the title and link to a book that they wanted […]

Adopting tools in a transformative rather than additive way

Years ago I was doing a presentation to high school educators and things didn’t go as planned: I started my presentation and within 30 seconds the power went out. I picked up my laptop and said to the 100+ audience members, “Ok, everybody gather around here.” ? I started a conversation about ‘What tech tool […]

Positively Memidemic

Dean Shareski started it! (And that's a good thing.) In his post It’s Not Really PD, Dean says about the (mis)use of the term 'Professional Development' ('PD') to describe an event: “I guess we butcher our language all the time. Using the word “awesome” to describe a great sandwich as well as the beauty of […]

Inquiry Resources from CSS and the ConnectedEd Canada Conference

The ConnectEd Canada Conference was an overwhelming success! Here is the recipe for those who want to plan a conference: 1. Run the first day in a great school, with classes in session and with student tour guides. 2. Invite presenters who want to have a conversation rather than do a presentation. 3. Provide ample […]

The Pro-D Flip

Since writing my 3 Keys to a Flipped Classroom blog post, I have been reading many great contributions to the discussion around flipping classrooms. Last week I was commenting on Lisa Nielsen’s thoughtful post Five Reasons I’m Not Flipping Over The Flipped Classroom and something occurred to me… I have flipped my Professional Development! I’ve […]

We aren’t in the ‘teaching business’, rather we are in the ‘learning business’.

“I think there needs to be a recognition that we aren’t in the ‘teaching business’, rather we are in the ‘learning business’, and if we aren’t constructing a teaching model that supports teachers in their learning then we need to redesign what a teacher’s day looks like!” That’s from my comment on Less is more. […]

Less is more. Teach less, learn more.

“This creativity aspect is very important because in Finland we believe that risk-taking, creativity and innovation are very, very important for a society like ours. And particularly working in this global and globalized world it is more important than what you actually know and remember, it is more what you are and what you are […]

An expectation of openness

On a recent post about empowering students, Gary Kern asked me a question in his comment: What are your thoughts on the structures and changes needed for teachers, especially at the older grades, to be able to foster higher levels of participation in their learning? What we really need are structures that both develop (and […]

The Trap

Being the edu-nerd that I am, I often look at parallels between my experiences inside and outside the world of schools and education, (see Bubble Wrap for another example). Now, two-and-a-half weeks into my Thailand & Vietnam holiday, such parallels are jumping out at me, and I think of them as ‘traps’. It seems that […]

Pfffffft! The Pitfalls of Presenting at Pro-D

— It is my privilege to share a blog post written by colleague and friend, Elaan Bauder. We thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts and comments with us, and for contributing to our learning. — Pfffffft! The Pitfalls of Presenting at Pro-D   I don’t know about you, but I really look forward […]