As I sit with an 11th grade student, he starts to share with me how he wants to figure out how Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help people fully control their dreams. It’s a mindblowing idea, but where do you start? He has no clue, and as I try to keep up the persona that educators, or any “expert” knows everything I start asking him questions. Not questions he needs to answer, but rather questions he needs to act on. A big challenge in life is not knowing what you don’t know. So what do you do when you don’t know something? Not just young people, adults too underestimate the power of the internet to find answers they need or even ones they didn’t know they needed. The number one response to nearly 80% of questions in my courses is “Google It”. Should I know everything, or should I know where to find anything? Digital and Internet literacy is as fundamental as writing and reading. So where do you start? How do you become a Google search ninja?
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When it comes to learning something new, I’m hungry. If a day or week goes by and I don’t learn something new, I feel like telling myself, “Michael, you’re doing it wrong.” I’m hungry because the openness to learn, to be a “lifelong learner,” means you’re never done, you’re never satisfied and you never become complacent. Complacency is poison. This refusal to continuously seek out new ideas, keep up to date on emerging trends, and know when to pivot and double down on personal and professional growth, is toxic. It’s toxic on an individual level and even more destructive on an organizational level because when you get to that level, then you have “Blockbuster vision”. If don’t know what Blockbuster vision is, it’s when you see a competitor (Netflix) disrupting your industry with a brand new way of doing things and you write them off as a fad. Then you go bankrupt...
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When I was young I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. An artist.
I also remember being shot down, questioned, and doubted. I remember the only people to ever support and encourage me were my parents. Even my painting professor questioned my future in the art world.
The good news is that I didn’t listen. The reason is that I felt then, and know now, that my God given talents to create, curate, and construct ideas intop experiences or physical items. These abilities are what allow me to fulfill my mission in life and provide maximum value to those around me. Whether it’s visual designs, project workflows, or launching a company, my level of self-awareness of what I am good at and what I can do for those around me gives me a level of motivation and drive that at times makes me feel unstoppable. I don’t always succeed, and I will never be done growing, honing, and refining my craft. But there is one thing that is certain...
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Let me share a story of an 8th grade class that had a chance to understand and experience true collaboration. Each year this class travels to upstate Washington and embarks on a week long science trip in Olympic National Park, one of the only locations in the world to house tide pools, rainforests, and mile high mount tops. In years past, students experienced nature first hand and documented it in their "science notebook", compiling their thoughts from observations, expert guided tours, and experiments...
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I was recently bundled together with a group of incredible educators to document our thoughts on the future of K12 Education for The EdAdvocate Blog.
Here is my excerpt but I HIGHLY suggest that you go to the article and look through this powerhouse of thought.
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