Curriculum

The Adaptable Mind – Finding Success in a World Full of Change

/ Dave Eberwein / 1 Comment

I started this blog post way back in 2018 but didn’t finish it as I couldn’t seem to get ‘lift off’. I had written about 100 words and then stalled. I kept going back to it — I’d add a little and then delete it. I wasn’t going anywhere with it. I almost deleted the entire thing but decided to keep it in my ‘drafts’ and ignore it for awhile. There it sat for almost 2 1/2 years.

And then I opened it back up in early 2021.

A blog by George Couros had originally piqued my curiosity on the topic of The Adaptable Mind. I watched the video again and this time something clicked — funny how that works — a new context, a new time and you can sometimes find success when it eluded you in the past. An important life lesson in itself for all of us.

The 2021 context of living in a pandemic may have actually helped me personalize the ideas to make the topic my own.

As we work creatively to find new ways of making education in a pandemic more meaningful and relevant, the idea of focusing on flexible thinking makes perfect sense.

ADAPTABILITY will only make our students more successful during this wild time of uncertainty and change.

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Can Improving Executive Function Also Improve Reading?

/ Dave Eberwein / Leave a comment

This is the second blog post I’ve written about Executive Function (the first being Our Personal Super Power – Oct 19, 2020). In this post I want to focus on EF’s potential as a critical component of effective reading.

Reading is an incredibly complex skill. It is not an innate ability, but one that is learned over time and involves an intricate dance of neuronal activity between a number of brain areas.

In case you’re interested, here’s a picture that highlights the complexity — no need to memorize it — there won’t be a test later.

Areas of the Brain That are Connected to Reading

And because of this complexity, for students who struggle with reading there can be a multitude of reasons why that is the case.

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Is Remote Learning the Future of Public Education?

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

I love it when we have these types of conversations — the debates about what ‘works’ and what ‘doesn’t work’. It’s these types of dialogue that help us move forward in our thinking and plans to make education even better. This one discussion about remote learning is particularly interesting during the COVID-19 pandemic — and gaining in some frequency — as we have found some system success along with some real challenges.

  • Is remote learning the future for public education?
  • Has the pandemic showed us a better way to teach and learn?
  • Have we seen the utopian light?

As with most topics in education, one often hears opposing arguments — and there’s certainly no exception with remote learning. There are some pretty strong opinions being generated:

“Remote learning is fantastic. My child is able to focus on their own schedule and terms without the distractions at school.”

“Remote learning is terrible. There is no meaningful social interaction with their peers or teachers. Motivation is difficult and they can’t stay focused on their computers”.

Each opinion is sometimes accompanied by articles or media posts supporting the perspective

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