Digital Eyes

In the world of software development, there is a movement towards using a "Sprint" as a way to improve productivity. The basic idea is that a development team meets and agrees on a work outcome. They are given a short period of time to build their product. They then meet to show the group their outcome. They get feedback and set up another sprint to adapt their work based on the feedback. I have been chatting with groups of teachers about the power of sprints in the classroom. Here is an example of what we have discussed: Instead of giving students a long period of time to work on a project, try giving them a very short period of time (5-10 minutes) to sketch out their product. Then share it with a partner and get feedback. Now give them time to reflect on the feedback and adapt their sketch to the feedback. Continue this cycle of work/feedback/reflect multiple times.  Here are a few reasons why this process works better than just giving them the longer period of wo

As part of the New Year, I have been setting some goals for what I want to accomplish this year. One of my goals is to spend more time creating. So I thought, I should dust off the ol' blog and get started again! We often fear creating because we open ourselves up to judgment. But creating is how we put ideas into the world. It is how we turn them on their axis and look at them from different perspectives. And yes, it is how we present them to others to get their thoughts and feedback. My hopes are that writing will spark some creative thinking for myself, while also sharing my thinking and learning with others. I hope you will join me and set a goal of creating something, anything, this year. What are your hidden talents? Woodwork? Paint? Play Doh? Whatever it is, it's time to flex your creative muscles. Work them and develop them! Everyone is creative, but only through practice do we become better at it!