made by people

"I wanna talk today about the refugee crisis going on around the world but let's begin with an old saying often attributed to that great expert in the field of human evil, Joseph Stalin. 'When one man dies, that's a tragedy. When thousands die, that's a statistic.'

Large numbers can feel cold and distant and even kind of comforting because they don't feel like people. And I think that's one of the reasons much of the world was able to ignore the years old Syrian refugee crisis until recently. But then, after thousands of refugees died this year trying to get to Europe, one three year old boy's body washed ashore in Turkey. His name was Aylan Kurdi, and he drowned with his five year old brother and his mom trying to get to Greece."

- John Green

I have thought a lot about what John Green said, and I think it's very true.

More than a million people reached Europe in 2015 in the continent's largest refugee influx since the end of World War II (statistic). Nearly 3,800 people are estimated to have drowned in the Mediterranean last year, making the journey to Greece or Italy in unseaworthy vessels packed far beyond capacity (statistic).

Ai Weiwei has said, "The border is not in Lesbos, it really (is) in our minds and in our hearts."

With Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton has let us see into the lives of 12 different Syrian refugee families preparing to embark to the United States.

All of this is a lead up to say... we get lulled by statistics to see unique individuals as less than who they are... humans. Distinct, singular, exceptional people.

Volvo has come out with a new advertisement that is definitely worth your time to watch... 

provide a safe environment for everyone

"It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people." Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Saturday many of us met at the Idaho Statehouse to rally again for legislation to provide civil protections to all Idaho citizens across the state. 

It had been reported that lawmakers (Republican State Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill) and the ADD THE WORDS movement were meeting to come to a compromise on civil protections under the law. However, nothing could be further from the case. How do you compromise on civil rights and human rights? The lawmakers appear ready to provide gay and lesbian citizens of Idaho civil protections, but not transgender citizens. That is not justice.

Advocates of adding anti-discrimination protections for Idaho citizens based on sexual orientation and gender identity have sought legislative action to add the four words to the Idaho Human Rights Act for nine years.

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant." Martin Luther King, Jr.

When I ask those against ADD THE WORDS why protections should be limited for transgender citizens, the answer I receive always devolves into something to do with restrooms.

Yet, the other day I saw a wonderful sign online... 

It said: 

We have a unisex bathroom because sometimes gender specific toilets put others into uncomfortable situations.

And since we have a lot of our friends coming to see us, we wanted to provide a place for our friends who are:

• Single Dads with daughters
• Single Moms with sons
• Parents with disabled children
• Those in the LGBTQ community
• Adults with aging parents who may be mentally/physically disabled

Thanks for helping us to provide a safe environment for everyone.

So, on this Martin Luther King Day, I'd like to simply ask the Idaho Legislature to help provide a safe environment for everyone.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article40839354.html#storylink=cpy

forward together

The year in Search, Google 2015


The year in ideas, TED 2015



The year in status updates, Facebook 2015



The year in tweets, Twitter 2015


“... that I forgave him, and that she forgave us, and that we have to forgive to survive in the labyrinth. There were so many of us who would have to live with things done and things left undone that day. Things that did not go right, things that seemed okay at the time because we could not see the future. If only we could see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest actions. But we can't know better until knowing better is useless.” 
― John Green, Looking for Alaska

you love this world very much

Yesterday was Small Business Saturday. At our local bookstore I bought Mary Oliver's new book of poetry, Felicity. It will make a wonderful holiday gift for all the Mary Oliver fans and poets on your shopping list.

I couldn't resist reading it before I gift it.

Here's my favorite:


A Voice from I Don't Know Where
by Mary Oliver

It seems you love this world very much.
     "Yes," I said. "This beautiful world."

And you don't mind the mind, that keeps you
     busy all the time with its dark and bright wonderings?
     "No, I'm quite use to it. Busy, busy,
     all the time."

And you don't mind living with those questions,
     I mean the hard ones, that no one can answer?
     "Actually, they're the most interesting."

And you have a person in your life whose hand
     you like to hold?
     "Yes, I do."

It must surely, then, be very happy down there
     in your heart.
     "Yes," I said. "It is."

wherever you go for the rest of your life

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” 

- Ernest Hemingway

create something new and better

Innovation is a mindset - a way of thinking - that creates something new and better.

This week I read The Innovator's Mindset 

by George Couros.

I highlighted more of the book than not. It may take several readings and re-readings before the entirety of the many ideas fully sink in. 

I have so many favorite parts and quotes. Here are just a few:

Change is an opportunity to do something amazing.

We forget that our responsibility isn't solely to teach memorization or the mechanics of a task but to spark a curiosity that empowers students to learn on their own. To wonder. To explore. To become leaders.

I believe education's why is to develop learners who create a better present and future.

When I use the term leaders, I'm not talking about bosses but people who have influence over and can make an impact on the world.

The world only cares about - and pays off on - what you can do with what you know (and it doesn't care how you learned it).

Innovation, though, starts not by providing answers but by asking questions. To be innovative, these questions focus on having empathy for those we serve.

And this bit comparing school vs learning:

School promotes starting by looking for answers. Learning promotes starting with questions. School is about consuming. Learning is about creating. School is about finding information on something prescribed for you. Learning is about exploring your passions and interests. School teaches compliance. Learning is about challenging preconceived norms. School is scheduled at certain times. Learning can happen any time, all of the time.

School often isolates. Learning is often social. School is standardized. Learning is personal. School teaches us to obtain information from certain people. Learning promotes that everyone is a teacher, and everyone is a learner. School is about giving you information. Learning is about making your own connections. School is sequential. Learning is random and non-linear. School is about surface-level thinking. Learning is about deep exploration.

I have followed George Couros on twitter (@gcouros) and have always been inspired by his posts and articles. When I saw that he had a new book out, I knew I had to read it. George's passion for innovation in education is exceptional. This book is a wonderful guide that is sure to inspire change.

Developing students into problem solvers and problem finders is crucial for their success

Learners need to be creative, innovative, interactive producers... not isolated consumers. We must promote and capitalize on open, connected learning. "My encouragement to you is to share your learning every step of the way, so others can benefit from your experiences."

I highly recommend Innovator's Mindset to all learners, teachers, parents, and leaders... so, really, anyone interested in critical thinking, productive citizens, and responsible decision makers.

dare to do things differently

You need to read this...

The Back to School Night Speech We'd Like to Hear


This is a brilliantly clever article written as a back-to-school night speech. An imaginary principal delivers an exercise in wish fulfillment.

Here are some of my favorite quotes...

What questions do they have about the world? How can we help them build on and find answers to those questions?

Our main concern is that what students are learning, and how they're helped to learn it, make sense for the particular kids in a given room. That's why our teachers spend a lot more time asking than telling -- and even more time listening to what the kids wonder about. The plan for learning is created with your kids, not just for them.

A good way to tell how successful we are is how excited the students are about figuring stuff out and playing with ideas.

Hold us accountable for helping your child to be a deep thinker who loves learning. Expect creativity. Expect curiosity.

Real excellence comes from helping students to see one another as potential collaborators.  

I have recently been researching the concept of Micro Schools... and I am falling in love with the idea. 

Imagine if curriculum could be discovered (not delivered) based on relevant events and student questions. 

Imagine student voice and student design in learning.

Imagine a place that creates healthy, happy young people who love to learn, want to contribute to the world, and can tackle the enormous problems of our times with innovative ideas and solutions.

I'm reading two amazing books that are bringing this imagination to life: Future Wise by David Perkins and Beyond Measure by Vicki Abeles.

I am so excited by what I have read and experienced so far. A change in learning is not going to come from the top down, it is going to come from the round pegs in the square holes... from those who dare to do things differently.

naturally curious and wired for learning

A great conversation was started the other day on twitter when @Sisyphus retweeted @agileschools quote, "This goal, learning to learn, should be the primary goal of education."

The world is filled with beautiful and dramatic questions. We are surrounded with opportunities to create things and have them matter. As humans we are naturally curious and wired for learning...

So why is the idea of learning to learn so popular?

Learning or discovery shows up in after school programs, in outside the classroom games, and in the archetype of the Hero's Journey (challenge, failure, success, return). Perhaps it's time to start supporting the idea of innate learning in the pursuit of discovery.

This twitter conversation reminded me that I had Will Richardson's new book, Freedom to Learn, on my kindle. I started reading it and couldn't put it down.

From the overview:

It's a great book. You should read it... because our education system isn't going away any time soon and you might be asking yourself, "What, if anything, changes?"

My favorite quotes from Freedom to Learn:

By and large, education is something still organized, controlled, and deliver by the institution; very little agency or autonomy is afforded to the learner over his or her own learning.

Here's the problem: increasingly, for those who have the benefit of technology devices and access to the internet, learning outside of school is more profound, relevant, and long lasting than learning inside the classroom. Connected learners of all ages have agency and autonomy that are stripped from them as they enter school. 

Learning is continual, effortless, unpremeditated, independent of rewards and punishment, a social activity, all about growth, and never forgotten.

It's arguable that we've always wanted knowers over learners; just look at our assessments.

... shouldn't the focus of our work now be to develop kids as learners instead of knowers? 

And then... toward the end of the book, there's a reality check of where we've let ourselves come to:

And, finally, current standardized assessments are a multibilliondollar industry - more than a quarter billion just for Pearson alone - that few in the business (or in the statehouse) have any real interest in changing.

The fact is that learning is leaving the building. 

What do you have the courage to change? How committed are you to bringing those changes about?

"What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook." 

- Henry David Thoreau

Struggle for wisdom

“Here is what I would like for you to know: In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body—it is heritage.” 
― Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me

I read Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I read it after seeing Mr. Coates on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart... so that was a while ago. It has been one of those books that I can't get out of my head... that haunts me still... that I can't quite wrap up.

I would love to hear if you've read it and what you think. How can we unravel this twisted knot we've created?

There is so much to talk about, and so much to listen about.

Between The World And Me is written as a letter to the author's 15 year-old son. It's a warning about racial injustice in America. Here is a sample of some passages I can't put down:

“The question is not whether Lincoln truly meant “government of the people” but what our country has, throughout its history, taken the political term “people” to actually mean.” 

“The enslaved were not bricks in your road, and their lives were not chapters in your redemptive history. They were people turned to fuel for the American machine.”  

“The truth is that the police reflect America in all of its will and fear, and whatever we might make of this country’s criminal justice policy, it cannot be said that it was imposed by a repressive minority.” 

“That was the week you learned that the killers of Michael Brown would go free. The men who had left his body in the street like some awesome declaration of their inviolable power would never be punished. It was not my expectation that anyone would ever be punished. But you were young and still believed. You stayed up till 11 P.M. that night, waiting for the announcement of an indictment, and when instead it was announced that there was none you said, “I’ve got to go,” and you went into your room, and I heard you crying. I came in five minutes after, and I didn’t hug you, and I didn’t comfort you, because I thought it would be wrong to comfort you.”  

“And still I urge you to struggle. Struggle for the memory of your ancestors. Struggle for wisdom. Struggle for the warmth of The Mecca. Struggle for your grandmother and grandfather, for your name. But do not struggle for the Dreamers. Hope for them. Pray for them, if you are so moved. But do not pin your struggle on their conversion. The Dreamers will have to learn to struggle themselves, to understand that the field for their Dream, the stage where they have painted themselves white, is the deathbed of us all.”  

What I've come to know as history, both past and current, is that black American citizens have been far more likely than white American citizens to die at the hands of the police. The phrase "Black Lives Matter" is not asserting that black lives are more precious than white lives. The declaration is underlining the fact that the lives of black citizens have been discounted and devalued. It's an indisputable, unpleasant  truth.