A few years ago I took a summer class in Project Based Learning at a local educational clearinghouse. The woman who was running it was a vibrant, talkative, brash character from Missouri. Among the many pithy statements she brought to the class from”The Show Me State” was this one: “Teachers are dying of humble.”
Which is to say, “We don’t talk enough about the great things we’re doing because apparently we need to appear as selfless, bottomless givers who sacrifice and live for the students. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that everything I do is done to try to make my class more learner centered. And it’s hard. But that endeavor? If I don’t talk about it, if I don’t “brag” about it, who will know? So this “public servant humility,” this “dying of humnble…?” Yeah, I don’t play that game.
So if you can stomach me for 50 minutes or so, and you’re interested in the genesis and evolution of a class like NOVA lab, well…here’ you go.
This interview was hosted by Hazel Mason of the Modern Learners and their Change School initiative. Hazel does a great job of drawing out some of the really salient and critical outcomes of the class.
If you’re interested in starting a class like this, I’m more than willing, as you’ll see and hear in this video, to talk about it.
Innovation Lab 