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Showing posts with the label Innovator's Mindset

Let Flexibility Lead To Alignment

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  In my previous school district, I was the only teacher teaching a physics course with set, district-wide learning outcomes. These same outcomes were also taught in physics classrooms at the other high school in our district. But at our school, I was one of the 2 physics teachers. The other teacher taught the AP-level physics courses. So, in many ways, I had opportunities to incorporate strategies I believed were best for learners and that I found worked best for them without being seen as out of alignment with anyone in our building. My amazing friend and one of my teaching philosophy goddesses, Katie Novak, stated the following misconception about alignment: All teachers must deliver instruction in the exact same way. True alignment, she says, is about shared goals, rigor, and outcomes. Thank you, Katie! Katie has taught me to truly believe that learner variability is the rule, not the exception. I encourage you to take 10 minutes to listen to Katie Novak explain it in the ...
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Putting Mindset into Action: Book Study Part 4

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"T he powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse." - Walt Whitman The last section of George Couros's book asks the reader to make the innovator's mindset a reality by creating a culture that encourages innovation.  To this end, the readers must take action.  He sets forth a series of questions reflecting on 5 key elements set up in the first sections of the book.  These elements are essential for unleashing the talent of the individuals in our classrooms and schools.  This is what the book is leading up to. Not some magic one size fits all solution. It's the insight to create the solutions that are right for your situation. George has frames the argument, it's our turn to fill in the canvas. If you haven't answered these questions for yourself, you haven't really "finished" the book.  Below are my answers to these questions as they relate to my classroom practice. Strengths - Based Leadership Do I know and buil...
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Release the Kraken

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Rather than typing out a reflection for part 3 of the book, I thought I'd take the author's advice and use technology to create. So, I decided to use Google Draw to create an image that reflects my big takeaways from Part 3: Unleashing Talent. I actually loved this process.  I look forward to playing more with Google Drawings when all of my students will be 1:1 with Chromebooks in the fall.  It won't be a mandate, but I'll demonstrate it as an option for expression.
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Create a Culture of Innovation: Book Study Part 2

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In part 2 of The Innovator’s Mindset George Couros eloquently lays out of what we need in our schools to allow for the innovator’s mindset to be nurtured.  But none of these needs are physical things.  They are not new furniture, devices, or costly remodels of physical learning spaces.  These are alterations to the cultural spaces of our schools. They represent a change from a culture of schooling to a culture of learning.  Where schooling is something we as educators do to students and learning is something that students have the freedom to do for themselves.   The innovator’s mindset encourages our students not to get schooled but to get their learn on. Yes I just time traveled from the 90’s As schools, we need to start with trust as a given.  George argues that if learners are forced to earn our trust, they already start in a place without the freedom to take ownership of their learning.  I will always remember being told that I sho...
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What Is an Innovator's Mindset: Book Study Part 1

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As a part of a summer book study, I have the fortune of reading George Couros’s The Innovator’s Mindset .  I am using this post to reflect on Part 1: Innovation in Education which covers chapters 1 - 3. Like with any good vision for change, Couros states the purpose, or the “why” of his strategies.  He advocates that today’s learners should be encouraged to become creators and leaders. This will then create a better world. The title phrase Innovator’s Mindset is the what we want to advocate for.  But what is the Innovator’s Mindset? The Innovator’s mindset is one in which the individual is not only attempting to increase and ability or skill.  The innovator’s mindset is one in which the learner looks to create new ideas and understandings with this ability or skill.   This pushes the idea that learners should not simply be consumers of content, but creators.  The business leaders of today are not looking for workers who simply bring them proble...
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