Staff Picks: K-12, Music, Neil Armstrong

Tom Picks “5 Lessons K-12 Could Learn From Skillshare”

Tom says, “The explosion of anywhere, anytime learning sites suggests that, even with common standards, K-12 could be more learner-driven and personalized.”

Karen Picks “Grammy Winner Brings Hendervision to Federal Way”

Karen says, “Tom and I were able to attend our first school board meeting in Federal Way, WA this week since Tom left the district as Superintendent in 1999, and we were there to witness two momentous recognitions.  First, Federal Way District graduate, Justin Henderson, a grammy award winning producer was honored for his work in the music industry.  When Justin was notified of the award, he decided to give back and has taken his message to Federal Way students of “setting their goals high and that anything is possible if you just do not quit” and spent a week doing just that in the community.
“This event also reminded me of this blog: https://www.gettingsmart.com/blog/2012/08/hip-hop-an-alternative-method-student-engagement/. Using music and rap to engage students is where it’s at.
“This board meeting was also where Monda Holsinger, recently retired Americorp Director  (https://www.gettingsmart.com/blog/2012/08/good-work-get-involved/) was honored for her work in motivating students and this community. Congratulations to Monda!
“Last but not least, Tom was at the school board meeting to encourage our community to support the levy on the ballot in November to rebuild our flagship highschool.  http://citizensforfwschools.org and provide added security to our district schools.  We consider this vote a moral imperative and want to highlight the fact that a vote for school facilities is also one of the biggest ways to encourage better learning and let our students know that we believe in them as the future of our community.”

Caroline and Carri Pick “One Giant Leap for Humanity, Now Education” 

Caroline says, “As usual Adam’s post is inspiring and spot on. I appreciated his tribute to Neil Armstrong as well. The consumption vs. creation debate with tablets is really important and glad Adam was able to highlight ways iPads can become creation devices as well.”
Carri says, “There’s this great quote by Alan Kay that ‘technology is anything that was invented after you were born.’ Adam’s piece this week about Neil Armstrong and that old Zenith brought Kay’s words to mind. Adam also raised some great points about the opportunities that technology presents us with to ramp up ‘doing’ and ‘creating’ in classrooms.”

Sarah Picks “Virtual Field Trips Rise in Popularity: How Educators Can Host Their Own”

Sarah says, “It’s great to see how educators are leveraging technology to not only expand access to learning, but to expand the knowledge and experience of geographical boundaries. With Google Earth, online tools, Skype, etc. students today can interact and learn from others all around the world. This is a norm in business that can also be a norm in classrooms.”

Allison Picks “DIY: Management Chops”

Allison says, “I think my favorite quote from Tom is, ‘That’s what I mean by management chops, Diane is working it. She’s pushing hard, willing to abandon good for great, and able to go deep on the core strategic issues that her organization is taking on.’ To often I think we find ourselves just OK with good and we stop striving for great – love hearing stories of those pushing through and moving forward!”

Getting Smart Staff

The Getting Smart Staff believes in learning out loud and always being an advocate for things that we are excited about. As a result, we write a lot. Do you have a story we should cover? Email [email protected]

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