RSA of Steven Johnson’s “Where Good Ideas Come From” Talk

Kim CarterClassroom Culture, Learning, Learning about Learning, School Culture, Student Strengths, Teachers, Whole Child

In the video below, the clever folks over at RSA Animate give visual engagement to Steven Johnson’s brief talk on Where Good Ideas Come From, an excerpt from his TEDtalk. One of the things we love about this talk is that it confirms what we intrinsically know to be true — innovation is more about interaction and engagement than sitting … Read More

11 Characteristic of Meaningful Work (and Learning)

Kim CarterClassroom Culture, Differentiated Instruction, Differentiated Learning, Learning, Learning about Learning, School Culture, Strategies for teachers

In a recent repost of Shawn Murphy’s “11 Characteristics of Meaningful Work,” the editors at QED’s blog noted that, While this piece by Shawn Murphy is related to business practices and targeted to managers and business leaders, the parallels to education and student learning are striking. Teachers, curricula developers, and education leaders can find plenty herein to ponder, reflect on, and apply … Read More

The Mind Matters Show: Study Tip — The Format Shift

Kim CarterAffinities, Classroom Culture, Language, Learning Challenges, Learning Specialists, Student Strengths, Student Weaknesses

Here is the latest video from Dr. Craig Pohlman’s “The Mind Matters Show.” Ben Berg describes the video on this blog post as such, When it comes to studying for a test, some methods give you a better chance for success. On this episode of the Mind Matters Show, Dr. Craig Pohlman explains the difference between active and passive studying … Read More

Storytelling’s Impact on Empathy (and the Architecture of the Brain)

Kim CarterBrain Facts, Classroom Culture, Learning, Social Emotional Learning

Paul Zak, who TED Talks describes as, “a pioneer in the field of neuroeconomics,” shares his thoughts and insights on the power of storytelling to affect change in the architecture of the brain in the below video — a collaboration between him, filmmaker Kirby Ferguson, and animator Henrique Barone for the Future of Storytelling conference. He opens with a powerful … Read More

Paradox of Students’ “Deficits” As Society’s Strengths

Kim CarterAffinities, Classroom Culture, Differentiated Learning, Learning Challenges, Research, Social Cognition, Social Emotional Learning, Student Strengths, Student Weaknesses, Whole Child

The Economist article, “In praise of misfits,” lays out the business-related benefits of what the author  calls “creatives,” “anti-social geeks,” “oddball quants,” and “rule-breaking entrepreneurs.” While the entire article is well worth the read, we have pulled out a few quotes to help frame the idea that we should work tirelessly to help our school system to support these “misfits.” … Read More

Transforming Batch and Queue

Kim CarterClassroom Culture, Learning, School Culture, Social Emotional Learning, Whole Child

Kim Carter, the Executive Director of our parent organization, Q.E.D. Foundation, was recently interviewed by the the good folks over at KQED’s Mindshift blog for a piece on competency-based learning. As a leading expert in the field, she had a number of insights into both the benefits of competency-based learning and critiques of the traditional “batch and queue” model.  Among … Read More

John Cleese Explains the Brain

Kim CarterBrain Facts, Classroom Culture, Language, Learning Challenges

Below is a video from John Cleese’s very “informative” brain podcast (actual content begins around 35 seconds). You’ll notice, of course, that nearly every sentence is almost entirely gibberish. It is humorous to us in large part because . . . John Cleese is a masterful humorist who can make gobbledygook sound sensical, and . . . It is a low stakes … Read More

One Story About Embracing Diversity and Empowering Students

Kim CarterAffinities, Classroom Culture, Learning Challenges, School Culture, Teacher Effectiveness, Whole Child

In this powerful and inspiring TEDxManhattan talk, teacher Stephen Ritz shares a program he started with his students called Green Bronx Machine. More important than the program itself, though, is how the experiences have transformed and empowered his students — their present and their future. Jackie Gerstein describes his work in her post “Learners as Entrepreneurs,” Stephen Ritz’s Bronx classroom features … Read More

Walking the (Learning) Walk

Kim CarterAttention, Classroom Culture, Differentiated Instruction, Differentiated Learning, Learning, Strategies for teachers, Whole Child

We find ourselves in something of a paradoxical education landscape. On the one hand we are learning more and more about the science of learning. Neuroscience is pushing the boundaries of the known world on a near daily basis. As a result, our knowledge about working with a variety of minds continues to grow at a phenomenal rate. Yet, numerous policy … Read More

Words that Ignite Learning

Kim CarterClassroom Culture, Learning, Learning about Learning, Social Emotional Learning, Strategies for teachers, Teacher Effectiveness

Below is a guest post by Kevin Washburn, Ed.D., author of “Architecture of Learning” and Executive Director of Clerestory Learning. His most recent recording at a Learning and Brain Conference can be found here.  It seems like a ridiculous question: Can a teacher’s words influence student learning?  Of course, we’d respond, how well a teacher explains new ideas naturally influences … Read More