Thing 16:

Digital Students: I agree with most everything they said. I have always thought that there was not enough creativity or project based learning going on in the classroom. Students, even younger students, enjoy and want to see how what they learn in school effects their lives. The most relevant statement though, is allowing students to walk along side us in the process. Facilitate learning, don't dictate.

Do Schools Kill Creativity? : We have to create opportunities for our students' gifts & talents. I don't think schools kill creativity. However, It is stifled. Teachers are asked to do so much more than teach & prep. Every year, kids are ready to take the lead and do something "totally wicked!!

No Future left Behind: I love hearing from students. They can be brutally honest which sometimes comes off as disrespectful. But as they say, from the mouths of babes.Creativity is often times sacrificed so that we can stick to the agenda. Amening classrooms and the time allowed to teach has remained the same whereas what has to be completed in that time has increased. Again I say stifling creativity.

The common thread between the videos is a pressing question, How do we prepare students for the future when we don't know what it looks like? Well, they told us. It is both complicated and simple: we teach them how to think for themselves and express themselves in their work....SPCG