Saturday I was fortunate to be able to present at the Social Learning Summit for Classroom 2.0 and Discovery. it was a fantastic array of content which fortunately is all free and archived here. I've done plenty of virtual presentations before but this time I actually did it in front of 30+ teachers in New Brunswick.  At any rate, this was a talk about an...

Today I'm attending the Literacy unconference at York District. Autonomy of conversation and learning is the main principle of this type of event and one that honors the power and smartness of the room. I had lunch with some of these smart people. Heather shared something that I simply had to share.  Part 1 discussed the importance of reflection and the...

I need to be careful. A new job and new learning gives me plenty of excuses not to write. My mind is occupied with all sorts of things that make it challenging to be be reflective sometimes. Writing and blogging has been a critical part of my own growth as an educator and I have no intentions of that changing but I need to force myself to write. This might be one of...

I think the phrase I'm looking for is intentional serendipity. I think it's Peter Skillen's term but there may be others using a similar concept.  In a world where play and wonder should really be considered essential dispositions, our education rarely values learning that isn't somehow tied to a chosen standard or outcome. Unlike a classroom...

Perhaps my greatest accomplishment this summer is that I did a lot of nothing. My July was unusually quiet, void of the summer gigs at conferences that have kept me in presenter and work mode. Outside of my PLP commitments, I played a lot of golf and took the odd nap, read a little, wrote very little and hung out with family and friends. I needed that.  In the...

Here’s a quick summary of some of the  sessions I attended at ISTE 2011. Skip the details and read the punchline at the end if you prefer. Saturday, June 25 Educational Reform Led by Jon Becker and joined by 10-12 others. This session considered what we mean by “reform” and considered various challenges and barriers. Key takeaway: Size of...