This question comes from one of our good friends within our ArtsEd professional learning network, Susan Riley. She asks, how will you encourage students to fail forward and to embrace the process? The process of failure needs to be modeled, we need to lead by example. If your students do not see and experience it, they will never understand it. Students need to see how we handle failure in a positive way, they will be more likely not see it as a bad thing. Teach students to

Great things never come from comfort zones. What are you going to teach or try this year that might push you out of your comfort zone? “I truly believe that everything that we do and everyone that we meet is put in our path for a purpose. There are no accidents; we're all teachers - if we're willing to pay attention to the lessons we learn, trust our positive instincts and not be afraid to take risks or wait for some miracle to come knocking at our door.” - Marla Gibbs Tell u

Today we are lucky to have another reflection from Craig Kemp. Craig is the Co-founder of #whatisschool, #asiaED edchats and #pubPD. He’s passionate and fun and describes himself as a lifelong learner, dream creator and thought leader. http://mrkempnz.com/ When you take a look at Craig’s website you can see right away he’s a busy educator and leader. Which is why his question is so powerful. Craig states, “It is difficult to declutter our minds and stop thinking of our t

“The answer is not to standardize education, but to personalize and customize it to the needs of each child and community. There is no alternative. There never was.” - Ken Robinson This question comes from Matt Grundler, @ArtGuy76 in Texas. Today is Think Through Thursday, consider this reflection and think through how you will personalize your teaching for the individual students in your community this school year? It’s important to look for individualized ways that we can h

On this What if Wednesday and we have another reflective question from Nikki Kalcevic in Arkansas, this is a simple and straight-forward question, “What was your favorite lesson to teach last year & why did you love it?” What if everyone shared their best lesson plans? We’re hoping for a lot of sharing today, tell us about your favorite lessons and why they are totally amazing. But please take it a step further and share links, resources and lesson plans. We are a communit

If you aren’t following Don Goble, you need to. He’s award winning multi-media communications teacher from Missouri and we had the honor to learn from him at ipadpalooza this summer. Here’s a book that Don wrote about the Six Word Story https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/six-word-story-six-unique/id846218165?ls=1&mt=11 One of the things about Don is that he’s a truly authentic person and his actions are louder than his words and you know he cares about teaching. Beyond that

Today high school art teacher Dorsey Sammataro @DorseySammataro from Georgia asks us to wonder. After reading her reflection question I googled children’s poems about wonder and found one that seemed so fitting. It’s linked to give credit to the author and original website. I Wonder I wonder why the grass is green And why the wind is never seen? Who taught the birds to build a nest, And told the trees to take a rest? O, when the moon is not quite round, Where can the missing

Today’s reflective inspiration and question comes from a veteran teacher and elementary administrator; Laurie Taylor. We are lucky to work with her as our Executive Director of Elementary Curriculum. Just this week I had the opportunity to speak with her about several different school district initiatives and the thing that is always apparent is her love of students. The key to her philosophy is students first and she believes that her role is to inspire great teaching in o

Today’s reflection question comes from our good friend Nic Hahn, she knows how to make the most of every minute of life. She puts in a hundred and ten percent intensity into her family and teaching. We have to say we really enjoyed her summer posts, who knew there was such a thing as paddleboard yoga? Nic did and she shared it with all of us! Summer as an educator is essential for rest, revitalization, and of course reflection. It’s also a great time to personalize your p

Today’s reflection comes from a fellow Texan and one of our very good friends, Chris Parker. Even though he’s in Texas we found each other on Twitter and first met at a state Youth Art Month event. Since then he’s become a wonderful colleague and friend who shares and inspires us all. His question revolves around something the K12ArtChat network talks about often. Student voice. Student Choice. Share how you let your students do it? Share and rejoice. At the core of arts e