Inspired Impact

Genius Day: Creating a Culture of Connectedness On Friday, February 16th, I greeted students outside of the school as usual.  But on this particular day, the day before February break, things were different.  Students were literally skipping into school.  I held my ipad and took video interviews of students to capture their excitement around the anticipation of Genius Day that would later be shared in an imovie slideshow. Genius Hour stems from a Google initiative where employees are allowed to spend 20% of their workweek on a pet project of their choice.  What Google found was that productivity and creativity for their employees increased drastically.  This idea has gained some momentum in schools where students across the country are being given 20% of their school day to explore their own passions.  This is an authentic way to get to know students on a more personal level and also put them in the driver's seat of their learning. Genius Da...

I can't think of an educator out there who doesn't want to be excellent.  And if I ever find one, trust me, I will do my best to talk them into another profession because kids deserve educators who strive to be the very best.  "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence."  Quoting Vince Lombardi on Super Bowl Sunday (Go Pats!) seemed appropriate as I think about the ways in which we can strive for excellence.  Here are five essential ways to grow as an educator. 1.  READ:  Students are expected to read daily. How can we expect less of ourselves or not model a love of reading?  This doesn't mean you have to read educational books all of the time.  Reading could mean online news articles, educational blogs, children's literature, or novels.  Don't have time to read?  Listen to a book on Audible or a podcast during your commute.  Here are a few of my recent, recommended reads: The Powe...