Mo Physics Mo Problems

I finished the audiobook of Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us yesterday.  Today, I had to go to the library to pick up a physical copy to reread some sections.  This book is definitely a read - steep - reread.  There is a lot to digest and act upon.  The ideas Dan Pink brings out are deeply tied into the movement towards personalizing learning in our classrooms.  Rather than recap the entire book, I would recommend you take the time to listen to his powerful TED talk where he lays out the fundamentals of his argument.  Seriously, if you haven’t watched it or read his book, you owe it to yourself to watch it (also, read the book). The focus of the talk is from a business perspective.  But, I imagine you can think of how it relates to your classroom as you watch. What Pink puts forth with a slew of evidence is that There is a gap between what science knows and what institutions do.   These institutions may be businesses in many of hi

The concept of a growth mindset has received great traction in the educational community.  If you are not familiar with the work of Carol Dweck, please watch either of the videos below to get some more information. TedTalk (~10 min.) EdWeek Keynote with Q & A (~ 60 min.) A key takeaway for me here is how we address student "weaknesses".  In an environment where choice is allowed in terms of accessing, engaging, and expressing, it can be easy to fall into a pattern where we allow students to only operate in modes that they are strong in.  If students aren’t encouraged to work in multiple modes, this can reinforce the idea of the fixed mindset. This is something I have seen in my classroom.  Students will continue to choose one form of assessment because it presents the least amount of challenge to demonstrate what they know and are able to do.  I am hoping to change this for term 4 in my classroom. I am not going to be removing choice from my