Category: Education
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Let’s Start a Conversation
I don’t know where to start. I’ve spent the past few days silent. Listening. Learning. Reading. Watching. Trying to make sense of what is happening in the world; a world that is in the midst of grappling with a global pandemic, and now also dealing with collective grief that has turned to rage and violence.…
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In Search of A New Playground
A few years ago, a friend of mine, Mary Cantwell, wrote a blog post that really resonated with me, entitled ‘Seeking a New Playground.’ That blog post caused me to pause and consider the similarities and differences between work environments and playgrounds. Working in an elementary school, the playground is an essential part of our day,…
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The Why, What, & How of Makerspaces
*Note- this post was originally published in the fall newsletter of the Delaware Valley Region-Pennsylvania Association of Supervision & Curriculum. The full newsletter can be found at: bit.ly/DVRPASCDFall2016 Why: What if the first question you were asked every day at school was ‘what will you make today?’ How would you respond? Makerspaces provide both students…
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Is it Mission-Critical?
Having spent the past week immersed in the startup culture and innovative ethos of schools and companies in San Francisco, I am now thinking about how this might translate back to my east coast environment. A common thread that has emerged in my thinking is the notion of something being ‘mission-critical.’ Many, if not all,…
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What is the Uber of Education?
The first day of our #pennsv16 adventure began at Wharton’s San Francisco campus. On our ride over, the question of ‘What is the Uber of education?’ was posed. As someone new to Uber, (yes, I downloaded the app upon arrival at the SFO airport), it was interesting to think about how Uber has disrupted the…
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What’s That Part?…and Other First Grade Inquiries
I recently had the opportunity to gather together resources and stories to share for a presentation on embedding inquiry across the curriculum at a PASCD Fall event. When trying to come up with a definition of inquiry, after collecting responses from colleagues, I found it helpful to identify what inquiry is NOT. I kept coming back…
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PLN1 Final Reflection: Where Do We Go From Here?
Overall, I found this course and project to be very beneficial to both myself and my students. A common theme that stands out to me from our conversations throughout the course is the need for a common language to implement this framework at perhaps a district level. As a person working with grades K-5, I…
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Words & The World: A Common Language for Writing
“KIds need to know about words and the world.” In a lecture at the University of Pennsylvania, John Collins presented ‘The Ten Percent Summary: the Perfect Writing Assignment?’ His model seems to blend the words/vocabulary with the world/context and audience across the writing process. I appreciated how he began the presentation by identifying three key…
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The Writing Process: Where Does Collaboration Fit In?
This weeks’ class introduced and explored the 5 types of writing as part of the Collins program. I’m not sure I agree with all of its components, but I think the model provides an interesting framework for guiding students through the writing process. I appreciated how the facilitators guided us through each of the steps,…
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Social Professional Learning? The Story of #ITEC14
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Iowa and present at the Iowa Technology & Education Connection fall conference. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet and connect with so many inspiring educators over the course of just a few days. Upon arriving in Iowa, I discovered that a weekly…
Christy Brennan 