The word “essential” is interesting. It describes that which we cannot do without. Food, water, and oxygen (in the right concentration) is essential to human life. It also describes the fundamental character. When we remove the unimportant or marginal parts of something we are left with its essence; removing anything more changes what it is. Read More
Humans are social creatures. Our brains function differently when we are engaged with others compared to when we are engages alone. We have capacity to solve much more complex problems when working together compared to when we work alone, but we also have greater capacity to deceive ourselves. This summer, I finally read Edwin Hutchin’s Cognition Read More
Rereading Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed has been on my “to do” list for some time. I first read it about when the second edition was published. I’m a fan of Diamond’s work. I especially appreciate the detailed evidence and analysis he adds to popular writing. While I am not Read More
In their 2010 book Change, Chip Heath and Dan Heath, scholars and business leader who study change, attributed resistance to change to three factors. These are observed regardless of the type of change. First, until new practices become habit, people must exert self-control to adopt them; this self-control is necessary to continue using the new Read More
I started my career in education in the late 1980’s. To increase my salary, I enrolled in graduate courses and the I could take a purchase order from the school when I enrolled. My principal or department head needed to “approve” the course, but it was informal. When I started I was in control of Read More
Teachers who create classrooms in which students pay attention are skilled at finding the correct balance between familiar and novel. Human brains are adapted to figuring out “just the right amount of change.” The logic behind this adaptation is simple: If a situation is familiar, then it is predictable so we have a sense of Read More
My career has approximately coincided with the history of personal computers in schools. I was an undergraduate student when “computer” meant a device that sat on a desktop and was turned on only after placing a diskette in the drive that loaded the only program that could be used during the session. The display was Read More
Technology literacy has been on my mind. My definition is inexact, but I can recognize it in people. You might be able to judge your own technology literacy by reflecting on how you react to new technology. For this post, I am going to ignore those who enthusiastically accept any new device. These folks are goo to Read More
“Data” has become the mantra of educators for more than a generation. In my observations of these folks, there seems to be little regard for the quality of our data or the ethics whereby it is collected. Forty years ago, the OECD published eight principles of data collection that still provide good guidance… as long Read More
Decision making is an interesting activity. Ostensibly, we want leaders who step up and take action. We seek decisive leaders who step up and “get something done.” The reality, however, is that we often find those who make the best decisions do nothing… at least initially. Obviously, there are emergency situations in which one must Read More