best practices

Every Experience Is an Opportunity to Learn

by Jim Rickabaugh, Ph.D. Learning is the key to staying professionally fresh, keeping our practice sharp, adjusting to changing conditions, and maintaining our professional confidence. It expands our perspective and feeds our curiosity. Learning can also stimulate new ideas and generate new insights. When we engage in learning that challenges us, we move beyond the limits of our natural talent....

by Stacy Linn, Ed.D. What are we preparing our learners to do? This is the question that educators, principals, parents and community members were constantly asking in our school district. Some stakeholders may say, “to answer questions on the big accountability test” while others would say “to prepare our learners for the future”. Out of frustration educators may even say, “Just tell us what w...

by Dr. Sarah Moran and Maegan Bowersox Holman Pirate Academy is housed at Holman Middle School in the Pattonville School District, and is proudly located in suburban St. Ann, MO. Holman is a diverse community: of approximately 640 students, 38% are African American; 37% White; 10% Hispanic; 10% Multi-Racial; and 5% Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander. Our students speak a variety of la...

by Liz Kolb How do you know if an educational application is truly “educational”? Believe it or not, there is no vetting process for these tools in the Google Play or Apple App stores. Any app can be labeled “educational,” even when it may not actually lead to student learning. This lack of screening has worried many educators, especially those of us in the education technology field. For ...

a picture of a sunflower with a butterfly on it

by Toby J. Karten As I painted the sunflowers on the cedar planked walls of our A-framed Vermont cabin, I smiled at the field that emerged. Broad and fine brushstrokes gave birth to each root, stem, leaf, and flower. Together they grew as I dug into the walls and feverishly painted. Some sunflowers overlapped and intertwined, some stood apart, some were taller, some were smaller, some had deepe...

Every Experience Is an Opportunity to Learn

What Are We Preparing Our Learners To Do?

Holman Pirate Academy: Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Developing Agency: Vetting Applications for “Educational” Value and Learner Agency

Sunflowers and Butterflies