With a career in education spanning over 23 years and 11 children of my own, I have come to respect and recognize that happiness is paramount in education. Unhappy high-achieving students have similar struggles to their unhappy underachieving peers as they navigate through life after high school. Yet happy children (and adults) are more productive, […]
Category: Technology
Three Ways to Leverage Technology and Build School Happiness
Recalibrate Your School’s Opening During #1st3days
Guest post by Brian McCann It’s taken me nearly 15 years to get the opening of school “right.” And in all of the summer planning I did for more than a decade: the refreshing of the building, the supplies ordering, the school’s master schedule, I forgot the most important stakeholder of all: the children. It […]
Prove It: Ensuring Efficacy in Digital Learning, Part Two
Guest post by Eric Sheninger In my last post, we explored the importance of demonstrating efficacy to build support for, and ensure the success of, your school’s digital transformation. The Rigor/Relevance Framework offers a strong overall framework to reinforce pedagogical foundations while also moving practice from isolated pockets of excellence to systemic elements that are […]
Prove It: Ensuring Efficacy in Digital Learning, Part One
Guest post by Eric Sheninger I’ll never forget the day I presented my digital transformation plan to our superintendent at the time. I had spent days preparing and rehearsing all of my points, explaining the rationale for each new tool and making a strong budget case to secure the necessary resources. At the end of […]
How Can We Best Engage Families?
Guest post by Brad Currie Transforming the way in which we engage families in our classrooms, schools, and districts is paramount if educators are going to exhaust all options to promote the success of students. A multi-faceted approach must be implemented. Families live busy lives and have unique circumstances pertaining to their availability on a […]
2018 Digital Principals of the Year Announced
Innovative. Bold. Creative. These are the qualities exemplified by the 2018 NASSP Principals of the Year. Each year, NASSP recognizes principals who harness the potential of new technologies to further students’ learning. Congratulations to this year’s digital principals: Kristina MacBury, Brian McCann, and Mariah Rackley.
Get Real With Visible Learning
Guest post by Jamie Richardson Creating authentic learning for students is challenging. No longer do students simply complete a project, get a grade, and move on to the next assignment. Their learning is long-term and connected to the next experience. Our work at LaCreole Middle School in Dallas, OR, revolves around project-based, problem-based learning. We […]
Aggregation, Curation, and Creation: Digital Literacy Skills That Enhance Learning
Guest post by Mike King With the many advancements in educational technology and 1:1 device initiatives, schools hope to provide a 21st-century education for all students and find ways to improve instructional practices to increase student learning and performance. Yet, in my experience and the experiences of many colleagues, we have seen limited advancement in […]
Podcasts: 57 Channels and Nothin’ On?
Guest post by Nicholas Indeglio Back in the 90s, the influx of cable television channels gave viewers a menu of options. However, while the quantity of channels was plentiful, it didn’t speak to the quality and did not target consumers. As Bruce Springsteen sang, “There was 57 channels and nothin’ on.”
How Technology Can Remove All Obstacles
Guest post by Nicholas Indeglio In August of 1997, when I was the Nittany Lion mascot at Pennsylvania State University, I had the opportunity to attend College Spirit Camp at East Tennessee State University run by the Universal Cheerleading Association. The top college mascots in the country assembled to learn from one another and jockey […]