Actually Teaching Growth Mindsets: 5 Dos and Don’ts
Growth mindsets are the superfad from five years ago. At this point, most teachers have have tried and probably gotten tired and frustrated like I…
Category: Innovative Arts
Ep12 Trello as a Classroom Portfolio Tool
I have been trying to help my students create portfolios ever since I started teaching. Every attempt was a failure. Failure #1) Paper Portfolios A…
Introducing Innovative Arts! Kids are creators instead of consumers!
I am so excited to be developing Innovative Arts as a new course in our middle school. This is the second year for the course…
Mission: Each kid can become a creator of their own type
Teachers are always trying to get kids to buy in, engage, participate, and internalize the lesson of the day. The struggle never ends. The content…
The limits we put on ourselves
What we think is a ’10/10 effort’ … isn’t. It sounds cliche but most of our students limitations are put there by the student his/herself…
Self-Discipline, Typing, and Middle School
Typing as a mindset lesson Innovative Arts took over for the old middle school technology class. The part of that class was keyboarding. Students spent…
“I want to be a pro gamer”
More and more students idolize pro video game players or youtubers. When I was a science teacher, I did not take these aspirations seriously. To…
The Poverty of Low Expectations
There is a subtle form of poverty that comes from low expectations. The expectations can be be from within yourself or from someone else. I…
Expectations become Reality
Expectations become reality and it starts young In the end, the expectations that we put on ourselves are more important than our innate talents or…
If you build it, they will come (maybe)
This year has taught me a lot about teaching creativity, mindsets, and inspiring kids to pursue their passions. It has been rough. I think that…
Kids’ Creativity Withers During Middle School
I have the pleasure of teaching all of our middle school kids once a year. 5th grade through 8th-grade students make up a diverse spread,…
Why some kids just succeed no matter what.
3D printers have been held up as the next big thing. Students can create things that we never imagined! We are entering an era where…