Dangerously Irrelevant | @mcleod

Books I finished reading (or rereading) in May 2021…

• The Power of Place, Tom Vander Ark, Emily Liebtag, & Nate McClennen [education]
• Learning by Heart: An Unconventional Education, Tony Wagner [education]
• The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design, Roman Mars & Kurt Kohlstedt [design]
• The Big Book of Science Fiction, Jeff & Ann VanderMeer [sci fi; 1,216 pages! can I count this as four books?]
• The Looking Glass War, John LeCarré [thriller]
• Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir [sci fi]
• Artemis, Andy Weir [sci fi]
• A Gathering of Widowmakers, Mike Resnick [sci fi]
• The Queen’s Executioner, Christopher Mitchell [fantasy]

Hope you’re reading something fun too!

The University of Colorado Denver had a ‘Walk Across the Quad’ event today to celebrate our doctoral graduates. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our students’ resilience and persistence, even during a deadly pandemic.

One of my recent advisees, Dr. Grant, is now in Massachusetts doing phenomenal work around leadership in early childhood education. She was dearly missed today. However, I did get to celebrate and hood my most recent doctoral graduate, Dr. Augillard!

A hearty congratulations to both of these incredible women. Go forth and (continue to) do amazing things!

[I’m up to 26 doctoral graduates, so I’m pretty proud of myself too… 🙂]

[Trying something new here…]

The 4 Shifts Protocol is taking off in schools around the world. We’ve got tens of thousands of educators already using it for instructional redesign. Schools who are trying to focus on deeper learning, greater student agency, more authentic work, and rich technology infusion are finding the protocol to be helpful in their efforts. Our book, Harnessing Technology for Deeper Learning, introduces the protocol, has some lesson redesign examples, and includes some tips and strategies. However, some schools and educators are looking for more interactive professional development.

As we attempt to innovate out of the pandemic and create some new opportunities for students, let’s see if this will be of help:

     2 hours… up to 200 people… for $1,000 (USD).

Online synchronous only. U.S. schools only (for now). Between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm Mountain time (currently GMT-6). No pricing per person and no travel costs! I will provide a quick overview of the protocol, we will redesign two or three lessons together in small groups, I will field questions and concerns, and we will conclude with some suggestions and strategies for usage in your local setting.

Interested? . We’ll find a date and time and I’ll send you the Zoom link. It’s that easy.

And of course we can customize this. For instance, we could do:

• 1 introductory session for teachers (got a group of innovators?)
• 1 introductory session for administrators
• 1 or 2 follow-up sessions to go deeper (e.g., with your own lessons and/or around instructional coaching)

Or we could do:

• 1 introductory session for elementary school(s)
• 1 introductory session for middle school(s)
• 1 introductory session for high school(s)
• 1 introductory session for instructional / technology coaches and principals
• 1 or 2 follow-up sessions to go deeper (e.g., with your own lessons and/or around instructional coaching)

Or we could do:

• 1 session on Section A, Deeper Thinking and Learning
• 1 session on Section B, Authentic Work
• 1 session on Section C, Student Agency and Personalization
• 1 session on Section D, Technology Infusion
• 1 session with examples of what this looks like in other schools
• 1 or 2 follow-up sessions to go deeper (e.g., with your own lessons and/or around instructional coaching)

Or whatever else makes sense for you…

. Satisfaction guaranteed. Hope this helps!

Books I finished reading (or rereading) in April 2021…

• The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, John le Carré [thriller]
• Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century, Orson Scott Card [sci fi]

Hope you’re reading something fun too!

Books I finished reading (or rereading) in March 2021…

• The Sand Sea, Michael McClellan [fantasy]
• Deathmarked, David Estes [fantasy]
• Lifemarked, David Estes [fantasy]
• The Widowmaker Unleashed, Mike Resnick [sci fi]

Hope you’re reading something fun too!

[I’ve been fairly quiet here during the pandemic. However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been busy. I thought that I would share a little of what I’ve been doing for the past year…]

Last March about this time, Yong Zhao, Chris Dede, Punya Mishra, Curtis Bonk, Shuangye Chen, and I launched Silver Lining for Learning. The initiative was meant to highlight interesting technology-enabled learning around the world and to spark some discussions about schooling possibilities during the pandemic and afterward. Although I bowed out after Episode 32 due to other commitments, my colleagues have done an absolutely fantastic job of keeping the dialogues going.

[I’ve been fairly quiet here during the pandemic. However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been busy. I thought that I would share a little of what I’ve been doing for the past year…]

My very last face-to-face engagement with schools before the pandemic was for the 5Sigma EduCon at Anastasis Academy. Kelly Tenkely is the Founder and Executive Director of this very innovative private K-8 school in Centennial, Colorado. Michelle Baldwin teaches there, so I have two good friends at Anastasis and always love visiting the school. Their students are doing absolutely incredible work.

The conference was a blast. I told Kelly that I wanted to try something different for my ‘keynote’ on Saturday morning. Instead of standing and delivering, I put attendees into small groups and sent them on a scavenger hunt around the school. Each group was given a ‘mission packet’ with ‘top secret’ instructions. Inside the packet was:

• a Team Directive document with instructions (“You are an elite team of code crackers and problem solvers…”) and warnings to beware misdirection from other groups,
• a Mission Checklist on which they could mark their completion of each mission,
• a Code Card for deciphering clues to their next mission,
• a packet of stickers that designated their team (e.g., Team Zebra, Team Tiger), and
• an initial coded clue that, when deciphered, sent them to their first destination within the school.

At each destination, there was an envelope with their team logo on it. Inside each team’s envelope was a Mission Document that explained the conversation station at that location (i.e., their ‘mission;’ an example is below), a sticker for their Mission Checklist, and a clue to their next destination. As you can see if you follow the link on the Mission Document below, the goals were to spark rich discussion and for each team to complete all six conversations. 

We had about 90 minutes total for the keynote session, and teams were created randomly to spark learning across different school systems. Instead of them sitting and listening to me for that time, they got a little exercise, laughed a lot, and had some amazing dialogues. I am appreciative of Kelly’s willingness to let me try something different. Our time together was super fun and everyone really enjoyed their six conversations. Thank you, Kelly!

Books I finished reading (or rereading) in February 2021…

• Critical Race Theory (3rd ed.), Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic [legal]
• Fatemarked, David Estes [fantasy]
• Truthmarked, David Estes [fantasy]
• Soulmarked, David Estes [fantasy] 
• Kingdoms and Chaos, Kel Kade [fantasy]
• Buddhist Boot Camp, Timber Hawkeye [spiritual]

Hope you’re reading something fun too!

I am SUPER EXCITED to be offering this professional learning opportunity for international school educators!

5 tracks… 10 cohorts… 28 total sessions. ALL on instructional redesign (or leadership) for deeper learning. Woo hoo!

Here are the details:

• Instructional Coaching track – February 13, 20, and 27
• Middle School Teaching track – March 6, 20, and 27
• Leadership for Deeper Learning track – April 3 and 10
• Secondary Teaching track – April 17 and 24; May 1
• Elementary Teaching track – May 8, 15, and 22

Cohort 1 is for international schools in the Middle East, South Asia, South-East Asia, and the Far East. Cohort 2 is for international schools in South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Interested? Learn more and register with the Consilience Education Foundation. And let me know what questions you have…

Hope you will join me as we redesign lessons, units, and schools for deeper learning, greater student agency, more authentic work, and rich technology infusion!