Latest Posts

  • Jumping the Great Firewall

    Way back in 2005, skater Danny Way jumped the Great Wall of China… on his second attempt. The first ended up with a broken ankle. The next day, he back on the board and nailed it. Welcome to China!  Now… Continue reading

  • Creating Cultures of Thinking: Summary Cards

    I love Creating Cultures of Thinking by Ron Ritchhart of Project Zero at HGSE so much, and refer to it so often, that I made these aide-mémoire cards and chapter summaries, and I carry them with me for planning, coaching… Continue reading

  • Making Feedback Visible: Four Levels in Action

    Five years ago I was starting to become concerned with the difference between marking and feedback. What was making a difference to my students’ learning and was the effort I was putting into detailed marking worth it in terms of… Continue reading

  • Making Learning Visible in Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences

    “Children grow into the intellectual life around them.”  (Vygotsky, quoted by Ron Ritchhart) I really enjoy parent-student-teacher conferences. (I’d rather do more of these and less report writing, but that’s a different post.) Even with a limited time-slot (my last… Continue reading

  • My Best Books, 2017-18

    This year has been high on transition, anxiety and exhaustion, and very low on sleep. On the plus side, we’re feeling positive about the move to an amazing school, and the sleepless hours have meant even more reading than normal.… Continue reading

    My Best Books, 2017-18

  • Connecting ISTE NETS & IB ATL Skills

    Back in 2016-17, I worked with a group on a project to connect the IB ATL Skills to the ISTE Standards for Students and AASL Standards, to generate our own school’s Instructional Technology & Information Literacy (ITIL) Standards. CA is… Continue reading

  • Getting Going in MYP: Student Orientation

    Here are some general resources for helping students get oriented in the MYP. Click here to open full-size in GoogleSlides, with instructions in the speaker notes. The goal here is to provide some ideas and printables that can be used… Continue reading

  • Life Coaching & International Educators

    A year ago we decided to move: the administrators’ timeline at our school is before summer for the year-after-next. It was a very tough decision to leave behind a great school and this life that we love so much in… Continue reading

  • Wayfinders: Respecting The Journey

    After a decade acting in coordination/leadership/HOD/coaching-type roles, I think one of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned – and want to encourage in others – is to respect the journey. This generates more questions in my head than most topics,… Continue reading

  • Dodging Dolphins

    Last week this gif was popular in the surf media: ……….o0O0o………. Continue reading