Worth Reading

Sharing a few highlights from the past few weeks.  Enjoy....


1. How To Be Creative (Hunt)- takes the position that creativity is a skill which can be developed.  From this stance shares ways to foster greater creativity in all of us

This is the key to creativity. It’s not a linear process and it’s not predictable. You need to give it space and lots of encouragement. If you are held to pumping it out like a factory, you are probably not going to nail it. And it doesn’t come to you at the most opportune times.

2. Can't We Do Better (Friedman)- thoughts about the latest PISA results and what it means for education; contains a few interesting thoughts about the academic implications.  Could serve as an interesting discussion starter.

So now let’s look at the latest PISA. It found that the most successful students are those who feel real “ownership” of their education. In all the best performing school systems, said Schleicher, “students feel they personally can make a difference in their own outcomes and that education will make a difference for their future.” 

3. Redefining The Writing Process (Carey)- discusses the strategic infusion of tech into the writing process both to facilitate the development of ideas and to also cultivate writing as a collaborative process

Writing does not need to be a solitary experience. It can be collaborative (just like presenting)

4. The WISE Learning Games Playlist (Institute of Play)- visual with links to a list of game-based learning tools

The premise of the WISE PLAY program is that the potential of games goes far beyond pure entertainment. Given the fact that games engage players in situations that require them to solve hard problems, collaborate with others to complete sometimes-complicated tasks, think creatively, and fail often in pursuit of a compelling goal, games can be good for learning, too.

5. dChat- weekly Q & A session from the Stanford d. school.  The chat featured David Kelley of IDEO

6. Do Tests Predict Success- Studies show that test scores are not the best predictor of success in college, career and life. Watch Angela Duckworth explain what kids really need to succeed. 

7. Building Networks, Connections, Processes (Sayer)- Building networks, connections and processes to enable innovation and conversation to build the profession and create challenging learning situations.

8. Makey Makey- DIY invention kit for everyone

Preventing Readicide

I want to share the following from Kelly Gallagher's Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About I. 

We would never buy a book at Barnes and Noble if it came with mandated chapter-by-chapter exams. We would never read a book so that we could tackle worksheets afterward. We would never begin a new read with the expressed goal of earning points. And we would never feel compelled to read if we had to complete a project after every book. Yet, as teachers, we do all of these things to developing readers. We subject them repeatedly to treatments that are counterproductive to developing book lovers


Makes sense.  How much does the extrinsic motivations we attach to English class foster an enduring appreciation for reading?  The greater sense of personal choice we infuse into the selection of texts and support of multiple pathways for expression leads to a sustaining love of reading.  It is rare, as an adult, that one would head into a book store (physically or virtually) and be subjected to the disclaimers offered by Gallagher.  However, this is not true for students and as Gallagher subtly points out, why is this the case?