It’s no secret that I like to make stuff. My wife and I co-wrote Wendell the World’s Worst Wizard and I have been blown away when classrooms choose it as a read aloud. I worked with two other people on creating Write About, a digital publishing…
My wife and I give each other one night a week to pursue our own interest. It’s sort of like having a date night alone. Odd, I know, but something that allows both of us to pursue our own interests no matter how crazy life…
So, I’m at the Nova Now Conference at Kent Innovation High School and I’m watching the students working on an aquaponics project. At one table, students are debating the aesthetic design. In another area, students are using Sketch Up to work on a framework for…
I’m writing this post during recess. It’s not really recess. It’s lunchtime. However, for this half an hour, students have a break. They can move. They can play. They can socialize. They can be free. I contrast this to my daughter’s class. She’s in pre-school,…
Our principal walked into a really tough situation this year. The school culture was in serious trouble and we had a mass exodus of teachers who left. We had unfilled positions along with new initiatives that could have been really unpopular. And yet, the school…
Just a few years ago, I would have been mortified for people to see that picture (above). When I was in high school, I decided not to go into Advanced Art, because I was scared. I had created a few pieces that won awards and…
One of the reasons I struggled with teaching code last year was that the lessons tanked. I felt like I should be able to teach a new concept without struggling. After a decade of teaching, I assumed that I wouldn’t have projects that fell completely…
Originally posted 3 years ago, but I think it’s still relevant now. I’m at a conference, listening to a technophile gush about the latest available tools that schools need to quit blocking. “What’s relevant to kids these days?” “Facebook,” the audience cries out in unison….
I’ve seen two dominant media narratives revolving around the Apple Watch. The first is a technophiliac, utopian vision of how wearable connectivity will make life better for people. In this vision, we’ll use the watch to diagnose diseases, utilize more accurate exercise regiments, and stay…
When I was a kid, I hated book reports. I hated filling out a form describing what I read. I wasn’t a fan of artsy crafty alternatives, like cereal box projects or dioramas. What I did love, though, was geeking out on what I read….
I’m a professor and a maker. Sometimes I make things. Sometimes I make a difference. On a good day, I get to do both.
