It is August 1st, and thus my thoughts, and the thoughts of educators around the nation, move to the new school year -- one that has both new challenges and possibilities. One new opportunity that has arisen for me is the move to a newly constructed classroom for Lights Academy, the personalized, project-based learning experience …
Author: dawblack
Parkinson’s Research and Fake News
Over the next several weeks, I am going to share recent Capstone Project work from my Lights Academy seniors. These projects are the culmination effort of their Lights Academy work, where they have chosen a question to research and dug deep into the analog, digital, and human resources that can help answer their query. I am proud …
Malala and Helping Students Find Their Voice
I am no doubt behind the times, but over the past month I have become very interested in the remarkable story of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist for education and woman's rights who was shot in the head by the Taliban at age 15, survived, and continues her crusade today. With her father as her …
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Lights Academy Seniors
Tuesday was my last class period with my Lights Academy seniors. I have worked with these thirteen students intently over the past two years in our project-based learning environment. This post is simply a tribute to them. Thanks to each of them for..... Taking a chance on Lights Academy, something that is still a challenge …
Dealing With Inevitable Negative Feedback
As most of you who follow this blog know, I really appreciate the work of George Couros. He never ceases to get me thinking about education in new ways and his transparency about his own education challenges is refreshing. In his recent post Keep Your Head Up and Keep Creating, he addressed the challenge of …
When Digital Tools Disappear
We are entering a period of turbulence in the educational technology world. Of course, perhaps this environment has always been turbulent, but events past couple weeks have caught my attention more completely. Two services that I have used to support learning and professional development are disappearing this summer. TodaysMeet, a tool for backchannel conversations, is …
Lights Academy Capstone Project Presentations
Each year our Lights Academy seniors create a Capstone Project that serves as a deep research project that is a culmination of their work in our project based academy. These presentations are formally shared during the school day and informally shared in a conversational style with parents and visitors on a Capstone Celebration Night at …
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Flipgrid and Lights Academy Applications
It is application season for the various academies at Lutheran High School, where I teach and serve. I look forward to reviewing the potential candidates for the academy which I lead, Lights Academy. One of the challenges I continue to face with this academy is helping students and parents understand just what Lights Academy is and its clear …
Lights Academy Ranks the Presidents
My Lights Academy students, as part of their Government standards, collaboratively studied, analyzed, and ranked the presidents of the United States in order of effectiveness. Their work may be viewed on this site they created. Please note that they have created a response mechanism on the site for feedback for their choices. They would love …
Favorite Primer for Student Questions
I have participated in a number of Twitter education chats over the past few days where the skill of student questioning has been discussed. Those of you who have read my posts in the past know that I am an advocate for getting student to ask really good questions and then giving them permission to …
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