Sometimes the Bias You Need to Disrupt is Your Own
I’m going to share with you how undertaking antiracist and antibias work with schools forced me to confront my own blind spots.
Can’t I Just Let the Kids Decide What to Make?
Q: It seems restrictive to tell every kid to make the same kind of product when we’re doing a project. How should I decide what parts of the project to be flexible on and which are non-negotiable?
A Simple Way to Help Reluctant Students Start Asking Questions
All through my schooling in India, the one thing I learned was to not ask questions. Questions derail the smooth flow of a lesson’s delivery, taking it into unforeseen territories and uncharted waters.
What if kids just copy the model?
The answer to this question is, literally and precisely, “I’d like to see them try.”
Student Led Conference Model Agenda
Are you planning this year’s SLCs? Save time and make sure you’ve covered everything, with this SLC agenda!
How (and Why) to Start a Project with a “Model Critique”
“We critique and discuss what makes the work powerful: what makes a piece of creative writing compelling and exciting; what makes a scientific or historical research project significant and stirring; what makes a novel mathematical solution so breathtaking.”
Self-Assessment Strategies for Students
How can assessment practices be designed to best support student learning? In school, the term “assessment” is often shorthand for “grades”—or, perhaps, tests, quizzes, rubrics, and similar evaluative tools. However, thinking of “assessment” as interchangeable with “test” or “grade” limits the potential for assessment practices to lead to meaningful and deeper learning.
Reading List: What is this thing we call PBL?
Sometimes the simplest questions lead to the most complexity…
Welcome to Unboxed Issue 26
In 2009 I began an internship at the Innovation Unit in London. It being an internship, I was doing a little of everything, but my main project was Learning Futures, whose goal was to make school more engaging for students.
Improvement from Scratch
School operation teams, the backbone of making the school day happen across the country, are often invisible. With little acknowledgement of success, it’s easy to notice when things fall apart: when buses don’t arrive on time, admission numbers are lower, computers stop working, or thousands of dollars are wasted on food ordered, but never eaten.