A few weeks ago, I listened to the first few episodes of a podcast that essentially said, "Everything that teachers are doing is wrong." I won't name the podcast. I'll call it Sold a Scandal instead. In terms of tone, it was giving true crime podcast and the overall vibe was one of moral panic. It lacked depth and complexity and nuance. I was immediately concerned because I've seen this oversimplification occur before. Look for an easy scapegoat. Offer a quick-fix solution. Then blame...
about 4 hours ago • 2 min read
Project-based learning and design thinking have both become buzzwords in the educational landscape. But beyond the buzz, both PBL and design thinking have rich histories that span decades. Both approaches also offer practical frameworks for teachers who are crafting authentic projects for their students. So, what exactly is the relationship between PBL and design thinking? When and how should we use each approach? Is either option better for our students? In this article, we explore what it...
7 days ago • 2 min read
I have a tradition of working on a new fiction project every year. I start on September 11th and go until the end of the year. It was something I started on 9-11 when I felt overwhelmed by the useless sense of destruction and the repeating loop of the tragedy on tv, so I sat down and started working on a novel. I rarely publish these works. It's mostly for me and maybe a few close friends. But it has me thinking about this idea of creative habits and the bigger notion of creative momentum....
14 days ago • 2 min read
We often assume that creativity requires freedom. Remove the rules, open up the possibilities, and let students run with their ideas. But sometimes the opposite is true. The right constraints can give us a starting point, push us beyond the obvious, and lead to possibilities we might never have considered on our own. In my latest article, I explore why constraints can fuel creativity and how we can use them intentionally in the classroom. This is my third article in a series I'm calling...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Sometimes our biggest creative failures reveal what we actually believe about creativity. In my second article in my series I'm calling Routine Creativity, I tell the story of a disastrous California Mission project and how one teacher transformed this epic fail into something that was far more authentic and meaningful for me at the time. This revised project forced me to rethink what it means to be a creative thinker. Years later, I can see how many of my assumptions were actually common...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
We often picture creativity as something big and bold. It’s the ambitious project that draws in the entire community. It’s the big project that kids remember years later. But creativity doesn’t have to be an event. In fact, some of the most powerful creative thinking happens in small, ordinary moments woven into the learning process. In my latest article, I explore the idea of routine creativity and why small, consistent opportunities to create, experiment, solve problems, and think...
2 months ago • 3 min read
For years, I held a very teacher-centered view of assessment. I would grade student work and use that to modify lessons and pull small groups. Students would receive a grade, which would then motivate them to work harder. Later, I started realizing that my feedback could help students determine what they knew, what they didn’t know, and what they needed to do next. Here, assessment shifted from a teacher task to a conversation between the teacher and the student. However, it remained...
2 months ago • 3 min read
We often assume that confidence comes with competence. But sometimes we are overconfident in what we know and, at other times, we underestimate what we can actually do. In a world of rapid change and increasingly sycophantic AI, students will need to recognize the limits of their own knowledge while remaining confident in their ability to learn. This is the power of confident humility, and it might be one of the most important mindsets for navigating an uncertain future. In my latest article,...
3 months ago • 1 min read
If you’ve read my blog before, you know that I love to share sharing practical ways that we can empower our students to own the learning from day one. This is the core idea that AJ Juliani and I wrote about in our book Empower. It’s a journey I began in my second year of teaching middle school and continued for a decade. Each year, I experimented with new strategies, new ideas, and new protocols. For the last eleven years, I’ve continued this journey as a professor with my students and...
3 months ago • 1 min read