CHANGEd: What if we connected students with city design projects? 60-60-60 #52

One dynamic way to help schools move into “21st century” education – full of project-based learning, design thinking, and integrated studies – would be to partner secondary-school students with local architects, city planners and developers, new urbanists, sustainability scientists, etc. In this 52nd post, what if we moved from a scholastic house of cards…to education [...]

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CHANGEd: What if I were designing one more faculty meeting? 60-60-60 #50

[Disclaimer: This is my biggest failure on the "60-word target!"] For the past nine years, this last week of April has marked the moment when I would begin framing next year’s opening-of-school faculty meetings. New student registrations have just occurred, so I have made a habit of starting faculty meta-planning the morning after those student [...]

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CHANGEd: What if school could look more like Caine’s Arcade? 60-60-60 #38

What if school could be more play-based, more project-based, more passion-based? What if school could look more like Caine’s Arcade? [WATCH the 10 minutes! You won't regret it.] A boy, a dad, and a stranger share the roles of “teacher” and “student.” There’s math, engineering, communications, design, sociology, social media, economics, marketing, ethics,… [Many thanks [...]

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CHANGEd: What if instead of filling their heads, we grabbed their hearts? 60-60-60 #17

Enhanced information technology and advanced understanding of human learning make it strange that schools retain many methodologies geared for “filling heads.” Additionally, society faces challenges demanding “grabbed hearts.” At yesterday’s MVPS Design Thinking Summit (#dtsummit12), we immersed ourselves in “Design = Utility + Significance.” At design’s core beats EMPATHY. Through design, doing-learners engage human experience [...]

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CHANGEd: What if we offered courses in News and Studio Hall? 60-60-60 #15

Most schools offer “History,” and many provide “Study Hall.” What if we offered “News?” Various points of entry for current events and modern journalism could be explored. By nature, the topic is transdisciplinary and PBL-rich. I can imagine weaving in every discipline. In “Studio Hall,” learners of all ages could use time to create, not [...]

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