This time of year I get to reap the harvest of having planted so many seeds in the problem-solving department.  Or said a different way, I get to see the results of having trained good hunters in the problem-solving department.  Problem-finding AND problem-solving, that is. 



Since September, I've been teaching my students to see complex wholes, giant systems with interacting variables.  Mostly we look at things from an ecological viewpoint--animals within systems, life cycles…

Howard Gardner and Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, USC Shoa Foundation conversation.  "Digital Media, learning, and empathy"

http://sfi.usc.edu/news/4732

Vickie Davis, Edutopia  "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts"…

From the chapter "A Promising Start" in Howard Gardner's book, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness: Reframed.



Yes, This I believe.  This I enact.  Our greatest hope is in blending the ages together online, joining together in this adventure, coming into the next human age, the era of online connectedness. …

(revised, 1/2/12)



Late last summer, I was returning from a walk across the alfalfa field with my pup.  Half a year old, she frolicked about with exuberance about everything.  She picked up a stick and raced through the grasses in long sprints, chin up, bursting with pride.  She pranced about, holding the stick in her mouth, darting in and teasing me to see I'd chase her to get that prize.



Then, as I watched her, something got ahold of me.



I noticed that the…

"Greetings, Earthlings"

The beginning--hopefully the students read it as an example of the teacher caring about their lives, who they are in their "wholeness."  The papers I've seen so far are deep and funny and seem to reflect a sense of openness and comfort. 

Here's a Visible Thinking Exercise,…

Some reflections on yesterday--



Dynamic, moving, jump-out-of-your seat exciting plenary sessions with Veronica Boix Mansilla, Howard Gardner, and David Perkins...   the kind of lectures you long for, best of the best, so current, so moving, so essentially relevant and thought-provoking.  Then... small groups gather to process what's happening.  Our group has 19 people in it.

I was very pleased with how things went in the Learning Group I lead with Ben Mardell.  I love having…

Getting ready for another mind-transformation at Future of Learning, and guiding others through their journeys as well.  This year:  Scout's Journals will be a main vehicle for processing and reflecting on what we learn.  Mapping the Unknown.  Exploring the terrain, all sorts of terrain, even that which is currently invisible.  Each participant in our Learning Group will be given (lovely, delicious) hard-cover blank books.  We may start our journey in the middle and move outwards,…

Whew,bringing things to a close.  Yesterday the class and I went fishin', which was an absolute gas. This whole week has been wild and fun.  Time is used almost completely for contract-work by students--they decide the projects, they each have their own individually-designed learning plan. 

No, I can not keep up with them.

But I applaud them!  My main job is to work to keep "a lid on it" while everyone's working. I try to keep noise and movement down to a mild roar!

I think I'll…

For our many fans of Linda Darling-Hammond on Fireside, I'm taking notes from Linda's talk and placing them directly into the blog.  <Here's a note added later--just met Linda personally and had a moment to talk with her.  She's such a warm, kind, open person.  I got her autograph, which I'll tape into my dog-earred and sticky-noted copy of Flat World and Education.  A photograph will be added shortly.  I invited her to Fireside and sure hope she comes.  Could you add a note of…

This afternoon I had the great pleasure of listening to Mary Helen Immordino-Yang make a four hour presentation.  The talk:  "Our bodies, our minds, our 'selves':  Neurobiological perspectives on emotions, today's culture, and learning."  

I wrote as fast as I could, and I'm fast, but I still didn't get it all down. Right now I'm just going to provide some links to give a sample of her research:

Mary Helen…

I don't know why people continue to fly; it's so uncomfortable.  It's really an exercise in adapting to torture.  What comes to mind to me are those people (or beings, as in Lord of the Rings--the dwarves) who load themselves into barrels or boxes to travel down some river or be packed in a train to escape some dire situation, just barely enough air to breathe, absolutely no room to stretch out or change positions.  You have to stay cramped and tortured for hours, even days, but in the end…

In one of our weekly check-in newsletters from the principal:

"Things we're thinking about, talking about, processing:

What is the quality of our homework?

How do we keep creativity integral to our curriculum and culture?

What is our philosophical stance on homework?

The great benefit to education from forming strong student-teacher relationships...

How to support/develop resiliency and…

Goodbye to Kye. Ever-present companion for a decade.



Thank you, Kye, for affecting the lives of so many children, teaching them to take pleasure in canine understanding and play. Your gentleness,

tolerance, and Enthusiasm for Everything will always be remembered.



Thank you…

Here are the books that frame my current research. Included in the set are some that have influenced me strongly in the past and for some reason I'm focusing in on now ( The School and Society, Left Back, The Power of Their Ideas, Making Learning Whole, Catching Up or Leading the Way, The Flat World and Education, Drive, and Mindset).

Also included are…