THOUGHTS
You really inspire that confidence in teaching as a tool to better others’ lives.
Learning isn’t learning if it doesn’t create change. It’s a core belief that’s driven more than two decades of my work. And it’s why I’m so honored to be included in The Upside‘s 2025 Impact Index alongside some other truly impactful experts. Because impactful learning isn’t magic. It’s engineered. Because it’s eminently achievable when it’s …
Forgetting is a path to remembering. 🧠💪 Last week I posted about my recent CPLEE project: building a tech-infused, learning science-informed approach to passing a licensing exam. Today let’s talk about some of the learning science I used and how it can help you! We’ve all learned something and then immediately forgotten it. The name …
Critical thinking with AI?Don’t trust. VERIFY! (👆 there’s your AI mantra for the week) I just came up for air after a lengthy project helping someone study for the California Psychology Laws and Ethics Exam (CPLEE), the licensing exam for psychologists who practice in CA. They’d already tried one of the 3rd party exam prep …
Sometimes it’s not this or that. Sometimes it’s both.That’s why I’m pivoting my consulting business in the new year. Thanks to The Upside‘s This or That campaign, I got to thinking about some things I’ve learned (or re-learned) about myself this year:🤏 Less is more (except for the clutter on my desk, that’s just more)🤯 …
Disruptive innovation? or copyright violation? I’ve become an armchair expert on copyright over the years – partly from sheer 🤓, and partly because my edtech work required me to teach faculty and students how to stay on the ethical side of copyright in a world where copying was so easy (and the fines so astronomical). …
“All change is harm.” 🧐🤯 My friend Caitlin Harper shared so many valuable insights on managing change in today’s Ways We Learn Podcast, but that one in particular keeps rolling around in my head. As in: even something seemingly good, like her example of free money, changes the status quo in (definitely) unpredictable and (possibly) …
Question for you: what’s the most important factor in learning? 🧐 I’ve got a new Ways We Learn Podcast episode dropping tomorrow, and a bonus episode in a week, featuring Amin Shaykho of Kadama. Kadama is a tutoring app for the gig economy. It’s an awesome conversation about how Amin built the company and how …
A wise coach of mine once told me to celebrate my wins. So here goes, and I hope you’ll join the celebration: 🎉 I’ve just been named a Top Thought Leader by The Upside, and earlier this year I became a Top Thought Leadership Voice on LinkedIn! 🎉 I’ve been trying to channel my years of …
Pro tip: you don’t know what other people are thinking. 😵💫 So find out! Have you ever thought an employee understood their task, but received a result very different from your vision? Or, after you completed part of a project, found out that your understanding of your client’s needs was different from theirs? 😠 Here’s …
How best to appreciate a teacher during National Teacher Appreciation Week? Tell them! 🧑🏫 My Latin teacher in 7-8 grades was Dr. Paul Pietrow. (He was Mr. Pietrow then — not yet a doctor, just a recent college graduate finding his way.) He only taught for three years before going to medical school and likely …
Delivering really bad news or a difficult conversation?Don’t deliver a “sh💩t sandwich.” (This is more often called a “compliment sandwich”: sandwiching difficult information between two slices of good.) It’s a reasonable approach for giving constructive feedback or routine performance reviews: Here’s what’s gone well, here’s what you need to improve, and here’s the generally positive …
Mine is inquiry. We prize decisiveness, creativity, empathy, and plenty of others. And they’re all important! But I think approaching situations with questions has served me best. In the classroom, it looks like asking how a student got to their result, or why their problem-solving approach was successful. Approaching with inquiry, even when the student …
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