Tag Archives: Getting Smart

By: Nathan Strenge Before reading this blog, watch the 5-minute video below in which Eden Park Elementary School teachers share their wisdom about starting strong in a Learning Community. Trust me it’s worth it.   When talking to the Eden Park teachers to understand what they do to start each school year strong, it became clearContinue reading “Video Insights – Start the School Year Strong”

By: Victoria Andrews and Brittney Seals Level Up – Pathways in Schools One size has never fit all; not in the free shirt you receive at a conference or in options for learning.  Similarly, young people vary widely in interest and passion, and campuses often have to facilitate opportunities for students to connect and findContinue reading “Stop Playing: Your Campus Needs an Esports Program  “

By: Mary Margaret Perkins Artificial Intelligence is taking hold in our society. From Chat GPT to TikTok algorithms to Tesla Autopilot, we are seeing a much more public representation of what these systems are capable of. This is a pretty big deal to a high school student, who was just googling “How can I getContinue reading “AI in Conservation: How Would this Change Our Interactions with Wildlife?”

By: Art Kleiner and Juliette Powell Accountability with AI is critical, especially in schools and especially right now. Many educators are skeptical of AI in general and in particular, generative AI (GenAI). They may even see firsthand the biases and inaccuracies inherent in chatbots and content creation tools. However, the push to use the toolsContinue reading “Six Steps to Build AI Accountability”

High school schedules are a grand bargain–a Rubik’s cube of compromise. They signal priorities, define opportunities, allocate resources, and influence culture.   Recognizing the important foundational role of schedules, a new administrator asked for examples of schedules that allow for flexibility and innovation yet support teacher time. Following are five sets of examples of innovative highContinue reading “Innovative High School Schedules “

By: Nathan Strenge While planning this short film below in partnership with the dedicated educators at Eden Park Elementary School, a resonant theme emerged – the importance of preserving existing best teaching practices even as we innovate. As a classroom teacher of a decade, this insight instilled in me a profound hope for the evolutionContinue reading “Addressing the Reluctancy to Transform Learning Environments”

By: Gloria Painter and Adam Haigler “I am so proud of what you students have been able to accomplish with this work and look forward to seeing how you use these projects to make an impact in our community.” This was what Jim Breedlove, the Board Chairman of Macon County Schools (NC) had to sayContinue reading “Using Schoolwide Design Sprints to Seed Student-Centered Culture”

Microschools are as old as America, originating as one-room schoolhouses across the country. As institutional education consolidated into larger buildings and larger systems, microschools persisted as homeschool cooperatives. Beginning three decades ago, virtual schools (both public and private) created new platforms for hybrid schools and learner cooperatives. However, nationally there is still a lack ofContinue reading “Big Push for Small Schools Grants”

By: Jason Krobatsch As we think about kids heading back to school, our minds are often filled with images of brown bag lunches tucked into oversized backpacks, individual desks neatly arranged in rows, and teachers setting the tone for how they’ll keep order in a room full of 25 (or more) kids. But in learner-centeredContinue reading “Not Your Typical Back-to-School Days at Learner-Centered Sites”

By: Lauren Wagner Updated: The Missouri State Board of Education voted unanimously Aug. 15 to approve ‘innovation waivers’ for the 20-school Success-Ready Students Network. A network of 20 Missouri school districts is asking the state to implement a more responsive assessment system in order to personalize student learning. The state Board of Education is consideringContinue reading “Why 20 Missouri School Districts Are Seeking New ‘Innovation Waivers’ to Rethink the Way They Test Students”