Educating for Innovation: the essential elements

The panel of experts we assembled in April from RPI, SUNY College of Engineering, Regeneron, Ohio State and Tech Valley High agreed on certain elements of education that promote innovation.  See what you think!   https://haikudeck.com/p/cQ6T0IwPud

Educating for Innovation

I am so excited for our panel discussion tomorrow night - innovators from UAlbany, RPI, Regeneron, Ohio State and Tech Valley High will be here to trade ideas about the hottest trend in education today.  

From a Nobel prize winning astronomer who researches the Milky Way Galaxy to a Director of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals,  named by Forbes as one of the most innovative companies in the US, we have assembled an impressive and highly interesting group.  It should be a lively event!  

The sound of gravitational waves

I am so excited!!!!  The report today in the New York Times of scientists hearing the sound of two black holes colliding a billion light-years away, that proves Einstein's theory of gravitational waves, is just phenomenal!

It took one hundred years, including 40 years of scientific exploration and $1.1 billion investment by the National Science Foundation, to test and prove what Einstein predicted in 1915.

Using two 2.5 mile long "antennas" ending with mirrors hung with glass threads, the LIGO team of physicists detected changes smaller than one ten-thousandth of the diameter of a proton.  And they recorded it.  So you can hear it.  That. is. amazing.

The questioning, striving and passion to continue this work over time; the dedication to an idea and the curiosity and determination to follow through; the serendipity, cooperation, invention and creativity of a team of physicists working together - it is the perfect example of what we are teaching our students to do and be.  Our school's mission  - our equation for education - is to inspire curiosity and a passion to achieve and to cultivate purposeful action. This equation has lead to exciting and wonderful achievements by so many of our graduates.

I love this phenomenal example of the quest to answer questions about the nature of the universe.  I hope you will be as inspired by it as I am!

Can we innovate in reading and writing?

Let's take "innovation" out of science class and apply it to reading and writing.

In this great article by Nancie Atwell, winner of the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, Atwell says that the most powerful innovation in her 40 years as a middle school English teacher was giving her students time and choice as readers and writers.

That's a powerful idea in an era of textbook and test-driven solutions for education's failures, and of course it is the same philosophy we adhere to at Parker.  Read Atwell's article!  It is filled with great examples of students who tune in to their intellectual lives through developing a passion for reading and writing.

Our eighth graders are preparing the oral part of their thesis projects now, looking for ways to make a compelling presentation about an idea for which they have developed expertise.  6-7's will be preparing persuasive speeches about third world uses for hydrogen fuel cell engines after a week of building such engines.  They will deliver their impassioned talks to executives at local company Plug Power.

Reading, writing and speaking that is attached to themes, big ideas, and high-interest topics is a huge motivator for kids.  Their hunger for more drives the practice that is needed to become more skilled. Teachers don't need to wheedle, push or pull the kids along.  They can set the stage for discussion and intellectual curiosity to blossom, make DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time a daily ritual, and stand back.  A great librarian helps, too.

Read more in 2-3 teacher Lynn Schuster's blog Here in the 2-3's or in K-1 teacher Jennifer Gresens blog posts about writing and reading.