k12
Reflection: Start Stop Continue
Reflection: The Heart of Learning Reflection is perhaps the most important thing in becoming self-directed, lifelong learners. It is the heart of 21st Century Skills, necessary for adaptability and innovation. It is paramount in shifting from reforming schools to transforming them. Reflection Excuses Without reflection, learners might learn content, but they are not growing as…
Read MoreBridging the Gap
The future will be a wildly different place than what schools were designed for. To thrive in a world that is increasingly complex, constantly changing, highly connected, and intensely competitive, students will need to master 21st Century Skills. Students will need to be adaptive, self-directed, collaborative, creative, and continuously learning. There are many approaches that…
Read MoreThe Journey
The Journey The path to a self-organizing classroom (where students are empowered, collaborative, and aligned to meet their goals) is often not a leap, but, a series of steps. It is a journey. Four Learning Zones Like in any journey, a map helps us to get there. The 4 Learning Zones maps out the terrain. As…
Read MoreConnecting Agile Educators in Vietnam
This week, ISHMC American Academy, located in Ho Chi Minh City, is launching into extreme 21st Century Skills, starting with professional development and coaching from Agile Classrooms for the entire staff. I am very excited about our virtual guest who will be visiting us from around the world during the workshop, sharing their experiences and…
Read MoreInnovation Natives
Today, students are born Digital Natives. This is given. They are comfortable with technology, it permeates their lives. Yet, at the heart, these natives are mostly consuming technology. Through these devices, they augment their presence, their network, and their knowledge. They can find an answer to “What is?” or a “How do I?” in seconds…
Read MoreStudent Empowerment Levels
Daniel Pink, in his book Drive, says that Mastery, Autonomy and Purpose (MAP) are what really motivates us to our highest levels. Autonomy, or self-directedness, is a critical 21st Century Skill. Yet, we give so little of it to our students, and sadly, not enough to teachers. It can be scary for some of us…
Read MoreLevels of Collaboration
We know that collaboration and communication skills are essential for students to master for today and tomorrow. One of the goals of an Agile Classroom is to grow the collaborative skills of students and leverage their collaboration for deeper learning, richer relationships, and a broader future. Agile Classrooms has outlined 4 Levels of Collaboration a…
Read MoreEmpowerment Is
Empowerment is… not a transfer of power, you do not give up anything. It is the granting of power to the learning relationship, which grows the power of the whole classroom.
Read MoreValues Discovery
Learning Alliance Designing The Learning AlliancePreviously, we introduced you to Designing the Learning Alliance to set the stage for a culture of empowerment, collaboration, and achievement. Designing Classroom Values Let’s start Designing the Alliance with creating a classroom culture based on shared values. Designing a values based classroom culture has 2 parts, Values DIscovery and…
Read MoreDesigning The Learning Alliance
Where to Start? I am often asked, where do you start in growing a self-organizing classroom? More than likely, you are already doing it. Many teachers post positive expectations in the classroom or door and you go over classroom and school rules with your students during the first week or two of school. You are…
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