Recent articles

Strategic planning, professional learning are keys to ed tech readiness
10/01/2016
Topics: Education leadership, Personalized Learning, professional learning
Thanks to my formal education background and the early stages of my educational career in the United States and Puerto Rico, I was fortunate to work with school leaders, inservice and preservice teachers, and teacher training faculty responsible for educating…

Learning by Design: The idea that moved a district
04/11/2016
Topics: Assessment, Essential Conditions, Personalized Learning
This is an updated version of a post that published on Nov. 20, 2015.
You could say Elisa Carlson became the director of instruction, curriculum and innovation at Surrey Schools in Canada at the worst possible time. But in the long run, it turned out to be just the…

Google CS First ignites interest in computer science
12/28/2015
Topics: Coding & robotics, Computational Thinking, Digital storytelling, Literacies, Personalized Learning, STEM & STEAM, Tools
I am always looking for ways to inspire my students — especially middle school girls — to grow their knowledge and skills in STEM subjects, particularly in the realm of computer science. So it was a great find when I discovered Google CS…

Jack Gallagher: Embrace every student's strengths
11/09/2015
Topics: Assistive and adaptive technologies, Parent engagement, Personalized Learning
The concept of student-centered learning isn’t new. Parents of children who are not neurotypical have long been on the lookout for ways to accommodate individual learning styles and help their students relate…

3 surprising characteristics of a flipped social studies classroom
10/12/2015
Topics: Flipped learning, Personalized Learning
When Jon Bergmann and I were researching Flipped Learning for Social Studies Instruction, we asked several social science teachers who flipped their classrooms for their…

Make every day Flipped Day
10/06/2015
Topics: Flipped learning, Personalized Learning
It’s Flipped Learning Day, an occasion to celebrate the education strategy that Jon Bergmann and…

What unschooling can teach us about student-directed learning
09/29/2015
Topics: Personalized Learning
Unschooling is unique approach to learning that’s challenging the way we think about education. And for many students, it’s the only way to learn.
Rather than a methodology by which certain children are “educated,”…

Soledad O'Brien: Show students what's possible with tech
09/14/2015
Topics: ISTE Conference & Expo, Online learning, Personalized Learning, Video
We know that students from disadvantaged families face plenty of barriers to getting a college degree. They lack the money for tuition, books, and room and board. They face life stressors that often take priority over academic goals. They often don’t have the parental support and resources that…

Should schools be responsible for teaching character dispositions, such as grit and adaptability? No
09/10/2015
Topics: Curriculum, Digital Citizenship, Personalized Learning, Project-based learning, Standards
Each parent has a different set of ideals for their children, including where they want them to go in life, how they want them to act and whom they should associate with. These ideals are based on norms from their community, where they live, the religious views of the family and beliefs they…

Should schools be responsible for teaching character dispositions, such as grit and adaptability? Yes
09/10/2015
Topics: Curriculum, Personalized Learning, Project-based learning
As we all know, when babies learn to walk, they fall. A lot. We don't throw a cushion under them to soften the blow or grab their hands to keep them from failing, because if we did, they wouldn't experience — or learn from — defeat. This is how they learn perseverance, the value of taking risks…