(This is a copy of a my guest blog post published this week for the World Innovation Summit for Education – WISE, Qatar – on re-designing spaces for learning: http://www.wise-qatar.org/content/stephen-harris-redesigning-spaces-around-collaborative-teaching and slide show: http://www.wise-qatar.org/node/16860 RE-DESIGNING SPACES FOR LEARNING There is a clear movement occurring in education globally right now – a movement that is seeking...
Cross-posted from eFACE Today Administrators listen as other superintendents and principals describe their Twitter experiences On Friday after-school, a colleague and I provided Twitter training to fellow principals and school district administrators. As a thank you to the tremendous PLN participation, below is the agenda, resources and Powerpoint we used during the two hour...
Isn’t Twitter amazing! I have been in schools since 1978. But nothing has been like 2011, a real game-changing year for me, because I decided to take Twitter seriously. What I have discovered is a world of like-minded people who daily provide inspiration and ideas. A tribe. My tribe. I have also worked...
The title for this particular blog had its origin as I listened to a number of presentations on ‘blended learning’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_learning) at the Virtual School Symposium. I have for some years liked the notion of blended learning and it seemed a generally suitable term describing a learning environment where students could transition from the...
Okay … this lesson probably commenced in my early childhood if I count the number of hospital visits from bumping into (stupidly designed) concrete telegraph poles in Auckland, slipping off high chairs to raid the top kitchen cupboards or eating poisonous plants because they looked nice. But the notion of learning by doing...
I find leadership a fascinating topic. If something typifies our 21st century world for me, it is the lack of leadership where and when it is needed. This is evident in micro and macro contexts – in countries, communities and schools. The issue is possibly that the media focuses way too much on political...
2011 has been an amazing year for me professionally – a year of great change at NBCS and a year of outstanding opportunities, travel and thinking for me. It has also been a year of new connections. I am going to try and capture some of the main insights during 2011 gained in...
When I taught sixth grade science, our students were immersed in learning about wildlife characteristics, environments, and patterns in nature in relation to the Hawk Mountain Sanctuaryand our surrounding region. For weeks we explored and discussed the habitats and migratory cycles of raptors, plant life, conservation, as well as the formation of the “river...
Cross-posted at “The Wejr Board” blog. I recently had the honour of presenting to a neighbouring school district about my journey in developing on online personal learning network (PLN) and becoming a connected leader. The slides from the presentation are below but here is a brief (ok, this is LONG for a blog post)...
Minutes ago, I sent the following email to the Junior High School faculty and administration at The Westminster Schools. Dear Junior High Faculty and Administration: As has become my practice, I am sharing my Goals & Self-Assessment with you all. Please find them attached. Also, today, I published a series of three blog posts...
In October, I posted an idea here called FedEx Prep: Time For Innovation. Based on the ideas discussed by Daniel Pink, in his book “Drive“, the idea was to increase innovation in our school by offering something that is needed: time. Now, I realize that the FedEx Day (Based on the idea from Atlassian)...
The school year has come to a close for many, and many educators and administrators are attending conferences and reworking their schools for the 2011-2012 school year. Often times there are little tweaks that are happening, but most schools are really looking at their vision and mission statements and how it pertains to...
Every now and then, a student is sent to my office. I don’t encourage this practice, because I feel as though a classroom teacher with whom a student has developed a personal relationship is in the best position to help transform a so-called “discipline” situation into a learning opportunity. As I peruse through office...
I had the opportunity to attend the eTech Ohio Conference (#oetch11) on Monday, January 31, 2011. It’s a three day event, but with budget and time constraints, I was only able to attend one day. I am excited to attend each year, hoping to take away at least one new idea I can share...
“This creativity aspect is very important because in Finland we believe that risk-taking, creativity and innovation are very, very important for a society like ours. And particularly working in this global and globalized world it is more important than what you actually know and remember, it is more what you are and what you...
I have already written here on my blog, Culture of Yes, about how successful the unconferencing (probably backchanneling is actually the more accurate term) was at the BCSSA Fall Conference last week in Victoria. Here is the definition of backchannel from Wikipedia: Backchannel is the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time...
On a recent post about empowering students, Gary Kern asked me a question in his comment: What are your thoughts on the structures and changes needed for teachers, especially at the older grades, to be able to foster higher levels of participation in their learning? What we really need are structures that both develop...
What motivates a person, after a long day of teaching, to spend their evenings coaching, preparing engaging lessons, or creating and planting a beautiful school garden? There is no merit pay. No bonuses. So why do they do it? Desire? Fun? Sense of purpose? Passion? These are a few reasons that keep people intrinsically...
Wednesday, September 1 was the first day my staff joined me back at Jerome Middle School. We began the day in a district meeting, and then after lunch, we joined together in our library for the first faculty meeting of the year. @wcarrozza, a principal I follow on Twitter, said it best. That first...
This was originally posted on my own blog on June 23, 2010 in preparation for the 2010-2011 school year. As we begin the school year, this plan is becoming a reality. This year at my school, we have done a lot of work with technology integration in our own professional development. We have started...
New Comments