Diversity and Ensuring Everyone Learns
Defining Diversity One of the most helpful tools I’ve seen when it comes to understanding diversity in any organization is the Diversity Wheel. I first saw this from Tommie Lewis of Make it Plain Consulting – a great Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consulting firm here in Cincinnati. I looked into this tool a little bit […]
Recognizing Privilege
I found this little graphic from a friend on social media. I hope to find out who originally made it so I can credit them. I’ve seen a lot of people share it. It speaks some truths to me. It feels like it needs some reflection. I was alreadythinking about posting some small thoughts on […]
Taming Tensions through Design
This think piece was co-written by Allison Zmuda, Eric Chagala, and myself. It was originally posted on LearningPersonalized.com. While the disruption to school has been difficult, disheartening, and exhausting, there also are flashes of possibility, imagination, and curiosity to design again rather than return to an old design that was built for a different time. […]
Leveraging Choice-Boards as an Opportunity for Co-Creation with Students
This piece originally appeared on LearningPersonalized.com Mason City Schools has been on a Personalized Learning Journey for the past two years where leadership and staff have immersed ourselves in the everyday challenge of creating meaningful experiences with students. While we wrestle with ambiguity and experimentation, we are guided by our belief about growing a learning […]
Are You Up for a Design Challenge? Wicked Problems for Post-Pandemic School Redesign
This think piece was co-written by Allison Zmuda, Eric Chagala, and myself. It was originally posted on LearningPersonalized.com. The new liberal art of design thinking is turning to the modality of impossibility… what many people call “impossible” may actually only be a limitation of imagination that can be overcome by better design thinking. This is […]
The Growth Moment No One Anticipated
This piece originally appeared on LearningPersonalized.com This year has been a journey! That’s how I intended to end this school year when speaking to the individual teachers I’ve worked with this year. Last summer when we started ramping up plans on how we would grow a mindset for personalized learning with Habits of Mind, we […]
5 Tips for Families as They Transition to Home Learning
This think piece originally appeared on LearningPersonalized.com With the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 prevention plans underway, many parents, guardians, and caregivers have suddenly found themselves in the role of the homeschool teacher. In some cases, schools are figuring out how they can best manage online learning. In other cases, schools are taking an extended spring […]
Mapping the Habits of Mind
I originally wrote this post for The Habits of Mind Institute’s blog. You can find it here. This school year, Mason City Schools has been exploring Personalized Learning. We’re growing our approach using a team of Learning Experience Designers working directly with teachers. Our design team spent time studying different thoughts on the matter, we […]
Breaking Down Personalized Learning Myths
Is Personalized Learning all about ONLY teaching to students’ interest? Is the curriculum totally individualized? Does PL have to involve technology? We have all heard these questions. It turns out, these are common myths about personalized learning. The fact is total individualization fails to expose students to the interest they never knew they had. Technology […]
Ignite Your Vision at Mason High School
InnovateK12 is a national cohort of innovative schools that was started inside Minnetonka Schools in Minnesota. Most of the districts participating in that cutting-edge program are creating design challenges with their staff. Potentially, InnovateK12 gives voice to teachers and certified staff such as maintenance, paraprofessionals, food service workers, and bus garage employees. In a nutshell, […]