10 Things That Happen When Students Engage in Project-Based Learning Blog Post

We often hear about the need for students to learn how to program in order to be ready for STEM fields and the Information Economy. It’s what we’ve been hearing for over a decade. However, there’s a fascinating piece from the Washington Post that explores…

Here’s How to Empower Students While Also Hitting the Standards Blog Post

Student ownership sounds like a great idea but what about the standards? How do we teach all of the standards while also empowering students with voice and choice? How do we accomplish this when we have a curriculum map?   Rethinking the Curriculum Map It…

The Power of a Launch (Why Students Should Share Their Work) Blog Post

This article is part of a larger series on design thinking. Students begin with Look, Listen, and Learn, which is all about awareness and empathy. They move into Ask Tons of Questions, an inquiry phase. This leads to research in the Understanding  the Process or…

Helping Students Embrace Revision in Design Thinking Blog Post

This article is part of a longer series on design thinking, a flexible framework for empathy-driven creative work. Previous articles addressed awareness, inquiry, research, and prototyping. This article is about the Highlight and  Fix stage, where students revise their work.  The Critical Role of Revision I…

Research Is Critical for Student Design Projects Blog Post

This article is part of a longer series on design thinking, a flexible framework for empathy-driven creative work. You might want to check out other articles in the series first.  The Importance of Research in Design Thinking The LAUNCH process starts with awareness, where students…

Empowering Students with Voice and Choice Page

Empowering Students with Voice and Choice We want students to be creative, critical thinkers. We want them to rewrite the rules as life-long learners and critical thinking citizens. It's a mindset of self-direction and student ownership and it begins by empowering students with voice and...

Making The Shift from Student Engagement to Student Empowerment Blog Post

We often focus on student engagement, but student empowerment is a step further. Here, we focus on the seven shifts toward student empowerment. Two years ago, I was a chaperone for my son’s fourth-grade field trip to a hands-on pioneer museum. Students learned how to…

Seven Strategies for Building Empathy in Students Blog Post

Subscribe to YouTube Channel A few days ago, my son said something that surprised me. He said, “Dad, we have the best cafeteria lady at our school.” And I said,  “Wait, what?” But then he went on to describe how this woman chose to memorize…

Taking Choice Menus to the Next Level for Student Ownership Blog Post

Recently, I asked my students (pre-service teachers who are currently in their practicum) about the ultimate goal of education. Some described the need for raising democratic citizens who will think critically about the world. A larger group described the need for preparing students for the global…