From Dan Kaffar
Good day everyone,
Wow, what an impact that innovation and technology can have on your classroom. Even a greater impact on our communities and the extended learning community. Just some tidbits that I took from the chapters.
First off, I was intrigued by a one-liner of Mr. Couros in the forward: "School should be a place not where answers go to die, but questions come to life." What an awesome quote and transition to our discussion on Innovation in the classroom. Many times we have students that have questions of inquiry. They might be on topic, but they might be totally random, either way it is important to the child. If we leave the question alone and never answer it or help the student find solutions, or just simply give them the time to research their question, they may be stuck on it, lose engagement, show signs of disrespect, etc. etc. etc.
Chapter 1: Good grades = good school = good job = good life --> interesting concept and I totally understand where this is coming from and the direction and drive that promotes this. I must have been fortunate as a child, imagine that ;), as my parents did not push the whole, "You need to get an A" attitude with me. Instead they laid the guilt on pretty thick if I ever wanted to do something fun, especially in college. They would bring up how my father had to work 2 or 3 jobs (maybe it was 10 jobs as they exaggerate at times...) in order to avoid student loans and pay for their tiny apartment that they lived in while they were still going to school... But it did help, as I worked hard and did the best that I could with the time that I had.
"What are we doing in school to get students ready for this future of work?" - Pg. 4
I don't know... That is a great question that I need to revisit over and over and over again. I think of the amount of work and the time and effort that we put into our days. The skills like creativity, thinking for themselves, brainstorming, things like that, have a much higher priority than I think we realize. I think I finally got that when I went to grad school. I realized that some of the theory was good and educational law was good, but more importantly, it was a group of professionals teaching you to think differently and to be able to apply yourself in ways that maybe you have not done so before.
Chapter 2: 20% Time or Genius Hour: It sounds amazing in theory and I believe it would be in the best interest of our students to have this kind of inquiry. I am curious how it would look at the various levels. I am curious how it would look in 2nd grade. I am guessing that they would need a lot of direction, but it would be a start. Ohhhh, how would it work if you use Sue Olson since she is coming to your buildings for a while every day and she helps with the 20% Time.. She would be another expert with technology and would be able to help the kids grow in their understanding of the content and how to do presentations.
The Sign-Language Project would be a great tool. The video of the news anchor from Fargo that signed to the person on Dancing with the Stars was touching to me... Especially having a deaf child of my own. Here is the link if you have not seen it: http://staging.inforum.com/news/4043142-watch-local-tv-anchors-message-dancing-stars-winner-goes-viral (copy and paste for it to work).
Interview questions: Nerve racking, but comical as well. "What's your favorite song? Perform it for us now." --- scary
Chapter 3: History does repeat itself. I think they nailed it, innovation is not forced on people, it just happens sometimes. As educators, maybe we just need to give our students the opportunity to guide their thinking. They can do amazing things. We all know that not everyone is going to become a doctor or astronaut, but everyone has a dream and if we give them time to explore their dream, maybe it can come true for them. . .
Great read overall. Have a fantastic day and see you on July 13th!
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