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If we don’t really think about the way we teach, and, more importantly, how both educators and students learn, we will all miss out on the opportunities that lie in front of us. School will continue to look the same as it did when we attended, only in a digital format.
We forget that our responsibility isn’t solely to teach memorization or the mechanics of a task but to spark a curiosity that empowers students to learn on their own. To wonder. To explore. To become leaders.
We forget that if students leave school less curious than when they started, we have failed them.
Compliance does not foster innovation. In fact, demanding conformity does quite the opposite.
In a world where new challenges constantly arise, students must be taught to think critically about what they are facing. They must learn to collaborate with others from around the world to develop solutions for problems. Even more importantly, our students must learn how to ask the right questions—questions that will challenge old systems and inspire growth.
if we want “innovative students,” we will need “innovative educators.”
find time to do it.
Using one PLC a month for teacher Genius Hour?
As leaders, if we ask teachers to use their own time to do anything, what we’re really telling them is: it’s not important.
we must make time for our teachers to learn and grow.
we need to develop a shared vision, align expectations, and provide pathways to ensure that all teachers have the resources to learn, create, and innovate to meet the needs of today’s learners.
This is not about a “top down” or “bottom up” approach as much as it is abo...
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Imagine that if every time you talked about the ability to write with a pencil, you only focused on telling kids to not stab one another with the tool.
The goal isn’t to change for the sake of change but to make changes that allow us to empower our teachers and students to thrive.
Innovation is needed both in our classrooms and in our leadership. As leaders, we must model the kind of innovation we want to see.
You’ll learn that to truly empower people, there must be a shift from telling to listening.
When you make that shift and focus on the learner (educator and student), rather than the administrator, you can create a shared vision for your community.
you can’t make anyone change; people can only change themselves. What you can do is create the conditions where change is more likely to happen.
Leaders of the most innovative organizations in the world know there is no end to growth and learning. Schools, more than any other organization, need to embrace a commitment to continuous learning.
What I care about is that kids are inspired to be better people because of their experiences in my school.
Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow. —William Pollard[13]
I believe education’s why is to develop learners and leaders who will create a better present and future.
When forward-thinking schools encourage today’s learners to become creators and leaders, I believe they, in turn, will create a better world.
I’m defining innovation as a way of thinking that creates something new and better.
The role of the teacher is to inspire learning and develop skills and mindsets of learners.
A teacher, as designer and facilitator, should continually evolve with resources, experiences, and the support of a community.
we don’t necessarily need to transform the role of teachers, rather create a culture that inspires and empowers teachers to innovate in the pursuit of providing optima...
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“Innovative teaching is constant evolution to make things better for student learning.”
“In our world today, what is a student more likely going to need to be able to write: an essay or a blog post?”
When we think differently about the things that we are used to seeing daily, we can create innovative learning opportunities.
To help people change, it is important to understand what drives their habits in the first place.
Different for the sake of different can be a waste of time and may even leave us worse off than where we started.
We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something that is provided for us and toward the idea that an education is something that we create for ourselves. —Stephen Downes (2010)[20]
Learning to recognize and create new and better opportunities for our students is what matters. In fact, it’s essential.
Those who stress the importance of failure as part of the innovation process tend to focus on failure.
Having the freedom to fail is important to innovation. But even more important to the process are the traits of resiliency and grit. Resiliency is the ability to come back after a defeat or unsuccessful attempt. Grit is resolve or strength of character.
Trying different things and figuring out alternative options for our students are all part of the Innovator’s mindset. But accepting failure as a final outcome, especially when it comes to our kids, is not something we should ever embrace.
A great teacher adjusts to the learner, not the other way around.
As leaders, we need to develop a culture that focuses on doing whatever it takes to ensure that we are successful in serving all of our students.
What is often misunderstood is that the higher up any one person is in any organization, the more people they serve, not the other way around.
Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom?
if worksheets were handed out as professional learning, some teachers would be bored to tears, yet, in many cases, we do the same thing to our students.
Do your students have opportunities to learn in ways that connect to their lives and make an impact on how they engage with the others?
the experiences we create often make students dependent upon the teacher for learning.
A better approach is to get feedback throughout the year, not just in the form of grades but through conversations.
Regular feedback helps us reflect on how we are serving our current students.
Information is abundant; it’s common. What’s uncommon, and desperately needed in today’s education systems, is the Innovator’s mindset.
we must be willing to look with fresh eyes at what we do and ask, “Is there a better way?”
I regularly ask educators to consider the question: Would you want to be a learner in your own classroom?
When we stop simply telling students how to learn, and, rather, act as a “guide on the side,” we can support them in a way that encourages them to find their own solutions.
Finding the problem is an essential part of learning—one that students miss out on when we pose the problem to them first.
