| Academia, libraries, and the Holy Grail! |
| A bit of British fun |
| Publisher review; new author for me |
| Recommended by a friend |
If you want a culture of creativity and innovation, where sensible risks are embraced on both a market and individual level, start by developing the ability of managers to cultivate an openness to vulnerability in their teams. And this, paradoxically perhaps, requires first that they are vulnerable themselves. This notion that the leader needs to be “in charge” and to “know all the answers” is both dated and destructive. Its impact on others is the sense that they know less, and that they are less than. A recipe for risk aversion if ever I have heard it. Shame becomes fear. Fear leads to risk aversion. Risk aversion kills innovation.
Brene Brown
Recently, I was speaking at a conference, and I asked the following question;
I will be the first to admit this, but have any of you ever said the following to a group of students; “The bell doesn’t dismiss you; I dismiss you.”
Hands always go up and share that they have said this, but today, Dylan Wiliam, an amazingly brilliant mind in education, was sitting in the front row and raised his hand. Stunned, I asked again, “You have said that?” He looked at me, nodded yes, and to which I said, “Well you kind of sucked that day.” Again, he agreed.
First of all, I was humbled Dylan Wiliam was sitting in the front row of my talk, but then, admitting that he as an educator has had days that were not the “best” said a lot to myself, and the rest of the group. The best educators in the world, have had days that they have been less than stellar. We look up to these people, sometimes believing they are infallible, yet not understanding that they too have had points in their career that they look back in disappointment. What probably makes them educators that others look up to is that although they have had those days, they learn from it, get better, and then move on. We celebrate the product but ignore the process.
I love this image from comedian Demetri Martin:
Any successful person has had those ups and downs, but ultimately, they keep moving onward and upward. I look back at my own career and think about certain points, “What was I doing?!?!?”, understanding that I have learned so much from my mistakes, as well as the times I have been successful. There are times now that I would even celebrate as a success currently, but may look back upon years from now and wonder, “What was I doing?!?!?” The world moves forward and so must we.
What is important is that we share these stories, and own them. It is easy to criticize others and point out their flaws, but are we willing to look inward and be critical of our own work? Doing this openly will help others more comfortable with being uncomfortable. They starting seeing themselves in a picture where they too can move onward and upward. If you want others to move forward, be willing to share your stumbles and falters along the way.
Share it, own it, and learn from it. This will help you and others move forward.
(I also shared this thought through a video reflection last night on Twitter, so here is the 1 minute version below.)
Hey #IMMOOC crew…reflection for tonight. http://pic.twitter.com/EbRutWGkqy
— George Couros (@gcouros) March 30, 2017
Introducing Ashbury + Oak by Polygon – Choose from three and four bedroom townhomes in Langley’s Willoughby neighbourhood. This family community offers everything you need with retail shopping, restaurants, recreation centres nearby.
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Coming soon to the Cambie corridor is a new development called Cambie Gardens by Onni. This stunning development is going to consist of 2,160 residential homes spread out over a 25.4 acre site. Also, included in this amazing project will be retail and commercial space, health centre, YMCA club and pool, a 2.5 acre park and the new Canada line transit station.
Floor Plans for Cambie Gardens
Floor plans have yet to be finalized but we can expect a wide range of unit options.
Pricing for Cambie Gardens
Please register and join our VIP list for early access and be the first to receive information on plans and pricing.
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Irish cream fudge with lots of Baileys flavor. Couldn’t be any easier to make and is naturally gluten-free!
Irish cream desserts are my favorite treats for St. Patrick’s Day. Last year I made these Irish cream brownies and wanted to make something equally as chocolaty and boozy this year.
By the way, if you haven’t made this homemade chocolate pudding with Baileys yet, you have to try it! It’s one of my favorite pudding recipes.
What I love about this fudge recipe is that it uses quite a bit more Baileys than other similar recipes I’ve seen. When it comes to boozy desserts, I don’t like subtle!
Something else that makes this recipe a winner for me is how simple it is. You know those fudge recipes that require boiling? I’m terrified of them.
With this recipe, all you do is mix everything together in one pot. So easy! There’s really nothing to mess up, as long as you don’t overheat the fudge mixture.
This fudge really doesn’t need any add-ins but I tossed in some walnuts for a bit of a crunch. I didn’t want a strong nutty flavor so I didn’t toast the walnuts.
If you prefer a stronger walnut taste, spread the walnuts out on a baking sheet and bake for about 5-8 minutes at 350°F or until they smell toasted.
One thing I haven’t experimented with is using a different type of alcohol. If you want to try something else, I recommend going with a cream-based liqueur and not something like rum.
If you love Irish cream as much as I do, try my mini Irish cream cheesecakes. They have a homemade chocolate cookie crust and can be made with all-purpose or gluten-free flour!
Yield: 64 pieces
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
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A new Collection of Willoughby, Langley Townhomes & Single Family Homes.
This wonderful new community of 54 townhomes and 36 single family homes is coming soon to Willoughby.
Ideally located at the 82nd Avenue and 204B Streets, this unique community features a shared common greenspace and is bordered on 2 sides by a nature belt. The townhomes will feature 2, 3 and 3+den plans, with either yards or roof top decks. The single family homes will feature 4 bedroom + den or 5 bedroom + den plans, some offering master on main living.
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AJ Juliani, is an educator I have worked closely with over the past few years, and I greatly admire his work. Soon (April 2), he will be launching “The Innovative Teaching Academy“, which is an amazing opportunity to further your own learning with a cohort of innovative educators from around the world.
If you are interested in purchasing this program, here is a link that will provide a discount for your purchase. This link will also provide you a description of the course. The deadline to sign up is April 1.
Below, is a post from AJ, so you are able to see his thinking on “innovation in education”. I am looking forward to doing a “launch webinar” (more information coming soon) tp help kick this off. Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Innovative Teaching Academy (Information)
As a new teacher, I remember getting into my classroom for the first time. I set up the space like classrooms I had seen before and enjoyed; I got my lesson plans in order; packed the filing cabinets with resources; started to make copies of overhead slides; put together an area for reading and stacked the shelves with books I had picked up in college or from my parents house.
Then the students arrived, and all my plans went out the window. I realized very quickly that the type of teaching I had been exposed to and grew up with, and the type of teaching taught at many undergrad programs…was quickly becoming a past practice. That’s not to say many of the pedagogical and instructional strategies I learned don’t stick with me today (the good ones always will) but these students were different learners than I was…and at the time I was only 22 years old.
After teaching in a nice classroom of my own at the middle school I jumped up to the high school ranks and became a “floating” teacher. We had recently joined the “Classrooms of the Future” movement and every teacher in our district received a Macbook. Many teachers had a cart of 30 Macbooks in their classroom, and every room had a SmartBoard installed. I taught in four separate classrooms and learned to digitally organize my classroom and instruction.
Flash forward eight years and the classrooms look very different in my same school district. In the two years since my district began our 1:1 laptop initiative our classrooms have evolved once more. New technology, new standards, and new content. Throughout this process I have tried my best to stay on top of where education is headed and what are the emerging “next” practices. Now when I talk to teachers in my district and around the country, I try to focus on the key elements of innovative teaching. With technology, standards, and content continually changing…these “innovative commandments” give teachers a starting point regardless of their situation.
Commandment #1 might be the most important. I spent a lot of time as a teacher figuring out new ways to inspire and motivate my students. Sometimes it worked, but often I would fail to reach all of them. Then one day I gave my students choice. Not some “fake choice” assignment where they could pick one topic out of a box of topics…but REAL choice. You know what happened? Students were inspired and motivated to learn by themselves…and by each other. And they did a much better job at inspiring then I ever could. Choice gives students the ability to go above and beyond our curricular limitations…try to give as much choice as possible and watch your students innovate.
Maybe this one should be re-labeled “provide growth opportunities”. We learn best after failing. In fact, you should start promoting epic failures in your classroom. Give a round of applause when students fail because now the learning can really begin. This doesn’t work too well with tests…but with projects it is great! If you create a culture where failure is not only accepted, but embraced…your students will not be afraid to challenge themselves.
Remember when learning was hard? It took time to find an answer. You had to search the library, ask the right teacher, or find some type of adult of expert who had knowledge and ask for guidance. Today’s learners can find out what a professor at MIT thinks about the future of robots…and we have to be ok that his/her answer if most likely much better than ours ever would be. In the same fashion we have to model to our students where to find the “right answers” to their questions. Their learning mentor could be Google, Siri, YouTube, Udemy, Quora etc. These sites and platforms can connect our learners to better information than we ever had, it would be a shame for us not to show them how to best use it!
I recently had a teacher ask me what I thought about Prezi. I told them I really liked it for some uses and then asked them what they were going to use it for… They responded that their students needed to do a presentation and Prezi seemed like a cool new format to present. I agreed. When I dug deeper on the assignment it was short 1-2 minute presentation on a recent medical discovery. While I agreed that Prezi was an awesome tool for presentations…it didn’t make sense for the students to spend time learning a whole new platform and putting together a presentation in Prezi (it takes a while) for this topic.
I suggested them using Haiku Deck because it was super-simple, easy to use, and they could create on any device. Students could then get to their presentation material quicker, and allow for some deeper tasks in the future. My point was use technology with a purpose. And understand which tool (technology) is right for which job (assignment or project). In order to do this you must be informed on what options are out there…or ask a colleague that knows. Don’t waste your time, or your students time by using technology for tech’s sake.
You know what is so much better than one student working passionately on something they care about? Students collaborative together to build something that matters…to them…and the world (more on that later). How often do you let your students collaborate? I’m not talking about “Think, Pair, Share”. I mean real collaboration where they work through problems together and come up with solutions, and test those solutions, and then debate whether or not they can improve upon that solution… Give them a chance to build something together, and they’ll learn much more than they could learn by themselves.
When I first did the Flat Classroom Project my students realized that they are not alone in their “learning”. And they also learned that students all around the world were just like them. They struggled to learn, and had to work hard to create. My students were no longer naive about their place in a global education system and we had many discussions about what it would be like to not only compete with these students for college spots and job positions, but also work with them in college and in the workforce. At the same time, you can’t forget to have a focus on your local community. When we do project with our local watershed, or run community fundraisers its about a bigger cause. Teachers need to tie “innovation” with both local and global experiences, because both allow students to interact with the real world.
Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe made a great point when they said: “The standards are like the building code. Architects and builders must attend to them but they are not the purpose of the design. The house to be built or renovated is designed to meet the needs of the client in a functional and pleasing manner – while also meeting the building code along the way.”
Don’t let new standards get in the way of innovative teaching. That is a lazy excuse. Instead, use standards as a starting “code” for creative lessons and projects that promote design thinking and innovative learning experiences.
I’ve had a number of great coaches in my life, but my one football coach will always stand out. He wasn’t our head coach but worked specifically with the offense. He sticks out in my mind because he looked at the game differently. He would see things in film and relate them to a game he watched on TV. He would bring in new ideas that he came back with from clinics and camps and other coaches playbooks. He never stopped learning. And we could see it as players. He was never satisfied. He demonstrated what a growth mindset looks like to a learner. I was his student, but he inspired me because he was relentless in learning. We in turn, wanted to watch film and break down other defenses because of his modeling. Remember, it is what you do…not what you say…that speaks volumes to your students.
My students like to say I challenge them. My players that I coach say the same thing. And I admit that I have high expectations for myself, our team, our students, and our school. But with high expectations often comes lack of flexibility. Innovation doesn’t happen without either of these. Have high expectations for your students and they will rise to meet a challenge, but also have the flexibility to go with what is working and change paths if need be. It is a fine line to walk as learners, but keep an open mind about what is possible, and anything really can happen.
I really shouldn’t have waited till #10 to mention the word fun! Learning needs to be fun. The process may have its ups and downs, and it should be challenging. However, it should have moments of pure fun and enjoyment. One of my favorite quotes is by the late professor and author Randy Pausch of the Last Lecture. Randy says, “If you can’t learn and have fun at the same time, then I’m not sure you have a good understanding of either.” As human beings we enjoy a challenge. It’s a different kind of fun then going to Disney World, but I’d argue that it may also be a better type of fun. Let your students work hard and have fun in their learning experiences. They’ll thank you for it.
If you follow me on Instagram, you might remember seeing some photos and video of Elle’s 3rd birthday celebration at Disney. Yep, we packed up the family, including my parents and their significant others, boarded a plane, and headed for sunny Orlando.
Let me start by saying that we aren’t Disney fanatics and shockingly enough, Elle isn’t even really into the whole realm of Disney princesses – yet. However, she loves spending our summer days licking ice cream cones and riding rides at Cedar Point, so we naturally thought she’d love the whole Disney experience. We had taken her once before, back in October, but just for one day to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to take in everything Doc McStuffins.
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One of the benefits of being able to attend #empower17, ASCD’s conference is kinda getting a feel for powerhouse speakers. Ones that you know are going to be dynamic, knowledgeable, and have a proven track record for awesome. Robyn Jackson for me is one of those people. She is calm, she is clear…and she never [...]
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I received a tweet asking me for suggestions on keyboarding programs for students. I didn’t respond. I couldn’t respond. I am not a fan, and when schools are saying that they are either a) in a time crunch or, b) having limited use of technology, I struggle that we use this precious amount of time focusing on keyboarding programs.
Think about it…Have you ever seen anyone in their teens on a mobile device, furiously typing away? What “iPhone Keyboarding” class did they take to learn that?
You know the answer…they didn’t. They learned on their own. They were compelled to learn on their own because if you can’t type fast enough, you might be left out of a conversation.
So, instead of looking for “keyboarding programs”, why not find compelling ways where students will want to learn to type? I asked my wife, an amazing educator, if she ever taught her grade four students “keyboarding”, and she said “never”. What she did share though was using chat programs to have conversations with topics, and that students learned that the old “hunt and peck” method would not be good enough; they had to adapt. Her reasoning was that she never learned how to type in high school, but by using ICQ (uh oh!…Please tell me someone gets that joke).
Simply put, if I am in a position where I need to learn something to be able to do something that is meaningful to me, I might actually learn it in a much more powerful way. Create something compelling and the students will learn to type.
As I am writing this, I am thinking about the questions we ask. There are two different ways that this question could have been asked:
The first question leads you to something solving the problem for you. The second pushes creative and innovative thinking.
Once we start hoping the technology will solve our problems, the more trouble will be in as educators, for a plethora of reasons.
Mindset will move us forward, not any technology.
Source: George Couros
I have the benefit of being at the annual ASCD conference, #EMPOWER17, this weekend, and as always, there are so many incredible things to learn and to see. But the best thing that happened today? Completely random and happened because I just have no social fear. We were walking back and forth down one of [...]
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I received a tweet asking me for suggestions on keyboarding programs for students. I didn’t respond. I couldn’t respond. I am not a fan, and when schools are saying that they are either a) in a time crunch or, b) having limited use of technology, I struggle that we use this precious amount of time focusing on keyboarding programs.
Think about it…Have you ever seen anyone in their teens on a mobile device, furiously typing away? What “iPhone Keyboarding” class did they take to learn that?
You know the answer…they didn’t. They learned on their own. They were compelled to learn on their own because if you can’t type fast enough, you might be left out of a conversation.
So, instead of looking for “keyboarding programs”, why not find compelling ways where students will want to learn to type? I asked my wife, an amazing educator, if she ever taught her grade four students “keyboarding”, and she said “never”. What she did share though was using chat programs to have conversations with topics, and that students learned that the old “hunt and peck” method would not be good enough; they had to adapt. Her reasoning was that she never learned how to type in high school, but by using ICQ (uh oh!…Please tell me someone gets that joke).
Simply put, if I am in a position where I need to learn something to be able to do something that is meaningful to me, I might actually learn it in a much more powerful way. Create something compelling and the students will learn to type.
As I am writing this, I am thinking about the questions we ask. There are two different ways that this question could have been asked:
The first question leads you to something solving the problem for you. The second pushes creative and innovative thinking.
Once we start hoping the technology will solve our problems, the more trouble will be in as educators, for a plethora of reasons.
Mindset will move us forward, not any technology.
Life. Life, ya’ll. You never know what each week will bring. It’s easy to have a couple of days that can shake all that you’re doing or wanting to do in life. It reminds me this week of a stanza from a “Hamilton” song.. [HAMILTON] Hey What are you waiting for? What do you stall [...]
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Arguments against innovative practices abound. Innovation comes from not only dealing with roadblocks but recognizing when to turn these same roadblocks into the conversation on how we can do things differently and much better.
Think about the way you (and others) ask questions. Is it in pursuit of moving forward or the hidden reality of holding on to what you have always done?
Here are three common arguments I hear against innovation, and how I respond to them.
1. We don’t have time.
No matter where you go in the world, there are 24 hours in a day. Why is it that some schools are able to do things in a much more compelling way? They do not have more time, they just use it more effectively.
Let’s retire the “we don’t have time” argument. Start to rethink what is important, and how we are using our time. It is not about adding more, it is about doing things differently and better.
I had this same conversation with a teacher years ago about how they could not have students blog because there was no time in the day, yet when observing them, they had students write (copy) for 20-30 minutes items into their agenda daily. The argument was, “They need to be able to learn to organize.” Reality check; I do not write any notes into a book that says “agenda”. It all goes onto my phone. I am also not learning to organize myself if I am told what to write down exactly. I am learning to do what you tell me. Send them a google calendar appointment (PS…this was a classroom where all students had a laptop) if you like, and then use the other 19 minutes and 30 seconds to do something where the students have to be thoughtful, not mindlessly write off of a board.
Reshape your time, because there is no more coming your way.
2. We don’t have money.
There has never been a school that I have traveled to where they said, “We have so much money this year! What should we do with all of it?”
How you use your money and where you spend it is crucial. Are you asking for innovation yet having the same textbook budget year after year?
Here is a great conversation starter for the “money” question. Check out this gif on the “Evolution of the Desk”.
The question I always ask after showing this, is that if your school has more access to laptops, is your school supply list exactly the same? Are there things that you can do with this one device, that you are spending money on elsewhere?
Again, it is not always about finding more, but rethinking what you have.
3.We are not sure this will work.
When I hear this reluctance to try something new because of fear of failure, I always try to get people to think about what they are doing now. Is that practice knocking it out of the park? Are worksheets “best practice” or “easiest practice”? If what you are doing right now is stoking curiosity, and a love of deep learning, while empowering students, there is no need to search elsewhere. Do what you are doing. But if it is not working for every kid, then you have to go out and venture and find (or create) something better for your students.
We also have to redefine “risk”. This is how I explain it to educators:
It doesn’t seem so bad when you see it that way, does it?
If you are not sure something “new” will work for your students, you also have to look at if the “old” thing is truly working, or if we are just doing it because we always have?
What is important about all of these “challenges” is that we use them as an opportunity to have conversations, not as roadblocks. If we start looking at the challenges as a great way to get people to think differently about the “why, what, and how” of education, we are in a good spot. If we ignore these statements and running away from the challenges, we are actively doing what we don’t want to happen in our schools.
If people are not comfortable sharing these statements, it doesn’t mean they don’t believe them. It just means that they are in a culture where they aren’t comfortable to have the conversation. Embrace the challenge and see it as an opportunity to move forward.
Every conversation we have is an opportunity to move education forward.
Info goes here
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Orange shortbread cookies couldn’t be easier or more delicious. Pair them with a mug of tea and your afternoon is complete!
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Twinings. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that continue to make My Baking Addiction possible.
Being that I am a food blogger, I sometimes get caught up in the hype of making making over-the-top desserts like Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake and Coca-Cola Cupcakes and I forgot about the simple things like shortbread cookies.
I’ve always had a special place in my heart for shortbread cookies because of my Nana. Now, I don’t remember Nana ever making shortbread cookies, but she often had a blue tin of them on hand during the holidays.
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