Articles That Have Me Thinking

Brett Clark shares an interview with renown author and educator Will Richardson in which Will describes the most successful school he has seen and why it has been so successful.  He states, "They are problem based, inquiry based, they throw huge questions at their kids, they don't deliver much of an education at all, kids are creating their own curriculum, and teachers are there to facilitate and lend their expertise.

The real strength of the school is that the adults are all learners.

Will continues, "We (teachers) really have to learn how to take ourselves out of this process as much as we can and be the guides, the learning experts, the inquiry experts, the ones who know how to ask great questions and keep motivating kids, but are not delivering much of anything at all."

What could Piedmont Intermediate become if we allow our student's to own the learning?

A Conversation With Will Richardson


Everyone makes mistakes.  It is important that our students understand that it is ok to fail as long as we learn from it.  In the following video, the teacher remarks, "A mistake is a student's opportunity to share with me how much they understand."

Notice how the teacher demonstrates her favorite "no."  She makes sure the students recognize not only that what they are about to see is wrong, but also that there is something good about the mistake.  She begins by asking, "What in that problem am I happy to see?"

My Favorite No