What We Are Reading

Tim Brown is the CEO and President of IDEO, his work in Design Thinking and innovation has made IDEO the most sought after design and innovation firm in the world.  He is a regular participant at the World Economic Forum and his talks Serious Play and Think Big appear on TED.  You can see a video of Brown talking about his book "Change by Design" by clicking here.

Lower School Professional Learning Communities

Some of the most innovative work in teaching and learning evolves out of needing a creative solution around a problem.  For Lower School Head, Sue Szczepkowski and Math coordinator Susan Sarshik, the concept of professional think tanks (Professional learning communities or PLCs) evolved when their math curriculum resources were taken out of publicaiton.  Prior to the adoption of new curriculum resources, faculty gathered to test, pilot, and evaluate a range of new products and applications. Szczepkowski reports, "We were at a cross-road of having to decide whether to adopt the piloted curriculum (Envision) as a new framework, which was aligned with Common Core Standards that had both a teacher and digital component, or to look altogether at something different.  Susan Sarshik and I both had experiences with other programs and were confident that the Envision program would indeed meet our program goals for having a solid framework that we would continue to supplement with creative and diverse approaches.  That being said, we believed it was critical for faculty to have a chance to look closely at the common core our current curriculum and the Envision framework and resources, and generate recommendations for how we would move forward."   Sarshik used essential questions around teaching and learning in her facilitation of the think tank.  From there the conversations grew with members sharing practices, ideas and recommendations.  Szczepkowski continues, "It was a start in how we could be thinking about professional development as an integrated part of the day, as well as to how we could take "problems" related to curriculum development and turn them into opportunities for questions, deliberation and action."  

Today there are a wide variety PLC think tanks in the lower school. When asked how the idea of think tanks came to be applied to education, Szczepkowski notes, "From my time learning alongside some amazing thinkers at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, I learned about the potential of "think tanks" to engage teachers in learning through invitation, asking questions, sharing ideas, and trying new practices.  There needs to be connection between the shaping process and the teaching process.   I believe both for students and teachers, the power of invitation, choice, and authentic conversations leads to engagement, innovation and an "I want to" kind of culture.  I support a culture where it is highly valued to ask questions about what we are doing, explore new ideas, gather with others to talk and try, and to generate new opportunities.  I think it builds capacity, strength, trust and direction for an organization."

What We Are Watching: "The Internet of Things"

In Marca Annuziata's Ted Talk titled, "Welcome to the Age of Industrial Internet"  this globally respected economist
talks about how we are going to be able to collaborate in better, faster, and more efficient ways across networks. 

"Everyone's talking about the "Internet of Things," but what exactly does that mean for our future? In this thoughtful talk, Annunziata looks at how technology is transforming the industrial sector, creating machines that can see, feel, sense and react -- so they can be operated far more efficiently. Think: airplane parts that send an alert when they need to be serviced, or wind turbines that communicate with one another to generate more electricity. It's a future with exciting implications for us all."

Scan to Download: Songwriting Students Release CD Online

After several years of premiering original music written by GA students on CD, teachers Dainis Roman and Jim Wade decided to use QR code technology to release the annual "Best Of" collection.  You can scan the code right from your computer to hear the amazing work of the emerging young artists, or click here to listen to tracks and find out more about the students and the program.

What We Are Reading

Keri Smith is a bestselling author, illustrator, and thinker. Her books demonstrate a 'learn by doing approach', and are being used in school curriculums all over the world as a way of fostering non-traditional methods of exploration. She also teaches and conducts workshops based on her non-traditional techniques across North America. Her books include: Wreck This Journal, How to Be an Explorer of the World, This is Not a Book, Mess - A Manual of Accidents and Mistakes, Finish This Book, and Pocket Scavenger.  We have been using her books at GA as a way to get students to think outside of the box, to brainstorm, and to engage in creative play as a warm up to design Thinking exercises and applications.

Lower School Art Teacher Launches Website

Say Things With Color is the art site recently launched by Lower School art teacher Alia Tahvildaran where she blogs about projects, materials, inspirations, and good reads to help empower parents to create with their kids at home.  Educators agree that creative thinking and problem solving are critical to a student's success in school and life.  This is just one way to increase the amount of time students can practice creative play by bringing  the classroom studio home to anyone's playroom or kitchen table. When asked about the inspiration for the site, Tahvildaran reports, "I started my blog to visually archive curriculum and classroom goings-on, suggest art games and applications for kids, connect with fellow educators, and above all to empower parents to feel confident creating and discussing art with their kids at home. When you visit saythingswithcolor.com you can find a great art book to read with your children, an online art game to play, inspiration for a project, and links for my favorite art tools and materials to use in your home or classroom.

Flipped Learning in MS Mathematics

Middle School math teacher Matt Notary uses ItsLearning, our virtual learning environment to flip lessons to allow for more individual and small group work during class time.  Using SMART technology, he records 10-15 minute lessons, introducing a topic and showing sample problems. The students then watch the video at home prior to class on any device so that in class they can work through practice problems and/or extension and application problems at their own pace, with help. 

"I wouldn’t exactly say it has transformed the way I teach, but I think it has changed my perspective somewhat on how learning time can be structured both inside and outside the classroom.  I am able to be more flexible in the ways I communicate new material to students, as well as in the ways I use class time."  Notary continues, "I think the students have benefited from more interactive class time since on days when I “flip” the classroom less time is spent lecturing.  They have also benefited from having 24-7 access to the videos, so that if they want to review a topic at home or even during a study hall, they can watch the video."