Innovator's Mindset (Book Study #13)

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are, where you are from, what you teach and anything else you want to include!

What is the biggest change you’ve made in your classroom?   Was it easy or hard?   Were you willing or resistant?   Are you glad you did? If you haven’t made a major change in your classroom recently, what change would you like to make for next year?   Why?

George Couros, in his TED Talk   “#Our Voice”,   shares his favorite quote, the one he says “drives him”.   What does this quote mean to you? In what area of your life or what ways are you maybe heading towards irrelevance?   In what area of your life or what ways do you need to change? How do you feel about change?   Name a time in your life when you first feared change, but on the other side of it, found things better because of it.

George Couros, in his TED Talk   “#Our Voice”,   shares his favorite quote, the one he says “drives him”.   What does this quote mean to you? In what area of your life or what ways are you maybe heading towards irrelevance?   In what area of your life or what ways do you need to change? How do you feel about change?   Name a time in your life when you first feared change, but on the other side of it, found things better because of it.

Are you a school teacher or a classroom teacher?   Explain which aspects you embody well and which areas need improvement.   How would teaching in a school filled with “school teachers” make your job easier?

Jim McKenzie, in his TED talk “Future Ready Schools”, indicates today’s students are well-schooled, but poorly educated.   How does this statement make you feel?   What does it inspire you to do?   Choose one of the 4 Cs from this video.   How do you ensure this “C” is a part of your students’ education.

How do you model and explore new opportunities for learning in your own practice?   How do you model and explore new opportunities for learning in your own life? (hobbies, organizations, etc.) Do you give your students opportunities to see you acting as a life-long learner.   If so, how?   If not, why not or how could you?

Barry Schwartz, in his TED talk “The Paradox of Choice” tells us what he believes to be the secret to happiness.   Do you agree or disagree? What would you say is the secret to being a happy teacher?   What would you say is the secret to being a happy person in general?  

  How do you use the concept of “competitive collaboration” to accelerate the growth of your students?   How would you like to see “competitive collaboration” used among teachers in your school? How could this benefit the professional development of all teachers?

Sterling Hawkins, in his TED talk “Discomfort is Necessary for Innovation” references MacGyver and the concept of “innovate or die”.    How does this concept apply to teaching and learning?   Have you ever locked yourself in that metaphorical freezer? Describe the last time you   did something out of your comfort zone?   If you can’t think of one, what could you do in the next weeks or months that is out of your comfort zone?

After reading this book, what is your new vision for learning? What is one thing that you are going to implement immediately to help move closer to make this new vision for learning a reality for your students?

  Please post your thoughts about this course below.  What did you like about it?  What didn’t you like about it?  Would you recommend this book study to a colleague?