I hope that as you read this blog you will maybe see a better way to educate children. Maybe you will find yourself momentarily free of the current, restrictive processes which plague many of our school systems – processes which restrict creativity, which restrict freedom of thought, and which force-out […]
Category: Instructional Design
Repetition, Review, and Reteaching: The BEST Educators Utilize These Strategies
Mastery comes through repetition, review, and reteaching. How often should one utilize repetition, review, and reteaching? Those three strategies should be indelibly embedded into every aspect of the teaching-learning cycle. My next question is this, and it is an important one… Does your school system’s pacing guide allow for plentiful […]
Podcast Review: Ethan Thornton w/ Mike Rowe
I talk A LOT about innovation on this site. I think innovation is so important that I incorporated the term into the title of this blog. Today, I am going to share a real world example of why critical thinking and creativity must be cultivated in our public schools. Folks, […]
If you are gonna talk the talk…
You better walk the walk. In other words, if I walk down the street looking for a candy store, see a candy store sign, and go inside…and find a hardware store. That is a false advertising. The store just wants to lure you in with a false store front. Every, […]
Part I: Lessons from Copenhagen
My family took a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark this summer. I am often asked, “Why did you choose, Copenhagen?” Well, with a lot of prayer, financial discussions, and just wanting to avoid HUGE crowds across Europe this summer, we settled on Copenhagen. We thought about Helsinki, Finland, and Tallinn, Estonia. […]
Remembered: June 6, 1944
I have shared this before, but it is worth sharing again and again… I was speaking to my class about D-Day one year. It was quiet. Almost instinctively, young people can sense the importance of that moment of history. I had finished talking, and then my assistant of 70+ years […]
D-Day Tribute: Andrew Jackson Higgins
Let me first be very clear, there are no braver men than those who ran up those beaches in a hail of German machine-gun fire on June 6, 1944. They road boats across turbulent seas, the door then dropped, and they immediately faced hell on Earth. The question of whether […]
Sometimes we make teaching too complicated…
The task of modern educators is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts. ~ C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man (1943) Inspire your students to learn, and the rest takes care of itself. Inspire them to be great at something. Inspire them to take initiative, to lead, and […]
A Lesson from Shawshank
Andy Dufresne. He is an iconic character. With circumstantial evidence, Andy Dufresne was sent to prison for a murder he did not commit. He was tortured there. He was taken advantage of due to his talent and refusal to bow down. He hatched a plan to escape which began with […]
Some Great Podcasts
When I am running or on the treadmill or driving, I like to listen to podcasts or books which are both good for me and keeps me interested. Need some ideas? I am constantly asking my friends for good content. Actually, one of these was even shared with my by […]