As we are enjoying the dog days of summer and starting to head back to our hobbit holes, aka classrooms, today’s book shout-out goes to The Innovator’s Mindset, by George Couros.
Wow. You know when you read a book, and about every other sentence, you’re saying, “Yes!”? That was this book for me and several other TWD co-op members. Go read it. Really. Whether you’re a teacher, principal, superintendent, creative, or in the business world, it’s a great read that will get your brain churning. Our principal actually made it our mandatory reading for the summer too, so it was a win-win.
Change
In his book, Couros defines innovation as, “...a way of thinking that creates something new and better,” and further argues that, “...change for the sake of change is never enough.” (p.19) I love this idea because in the realm of education, we are constantly bombarded with change. Whether it’s to use more or better technology, get a new standardized test, to work with this new data, or to try these new techniques, it’s always about how we need to change something. And while change is often necessary, I love how Couros reminds us that we need not change just to be current. We need to change if it makes us better. If it makes our classrooms and students better. If it makes us better educators. This summer, I took Couros’ message to heart and really pondered that thought. What can I change for the better? How can I be innovative?
Summer Musings
The lazy (well, somewhat...we all know teachers work a lot over the summer) summer days always give me time to reflect on the past year and think about what I want to change or mix up for the year ahead. I usually try and find some kind of theme in my summer musings, mainly because I’m a nerd who wants some thematically romanticized life, but I love having a word or two that wraps up the lessons I think I’ve learned during those sweltering days. This summer’s theme: innovation and creativity.
It started with a three day retreat with my fellow 7th grade ELA teammates. We were purposeful in our innovation. We wanted to get away and have specified time to reflect, create, design, and envision our year ahead. It was one of the best things we’ve done so far. I’ll write a post about that later, but for the most part, that retreat came to be because of the things we read in Couros’ book. How can we be innovative and not just change things to change them, but change them and create them to make our students better, and to make the world better? We are excited about a lot of different ideas for the year ahead, but one of the outcomes of that innovation retreat, was to stop reading a class novel that we’ve read for the last oh, 8 years. Scary, right? We decided that we needed to innovate because there were better resources out there. We had been reading that novel because it was fun and easy, and engaging, but it wasn’t really empowering. It didn’t challenge our students to the level that we have realized they need. So we decided to chuck it because we knew it would make our students, and our teaching, better.
Read it
In his book, Couros challenges us to a new way of thinking. He reminds us to build relationships, empower students, create a shared vision, and create meaningful learning. I could go on and on, but I really want you to read it. His message is refreshing and empowering for educators and designers alike.
Megan Gordon
7th Grade ELA
Find The Innovator’s Mindset here:
http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/5715
Visit George’s web site:
http://georgecouros.ca/blog/
Follow George on Twitter:
@gcouros
Wow. You know when you read a book, and about every other sentence, you’re saying, “Yes!”? That was this book for me and several other TWD co-op members. Go read it. Really. Whether you’re a teacher, principal, superintendent, creative, or in the business world, it’s a great read that will get your brain churning. Our principal actually made it our mandatory reading for the summer too, so it was a win-win.
Change
In his book, Couros defines innovation as, “...a way of thinking that creates something new and better,” and further argues that, “...change for the sake of change is never enough.” (p.19) I love this idea because in the realm of education, we are constantly bombarded with change. Whether it’s to use more or better technology, get a new standardized test, to work with this new data, or to try these new techniques, it’s always about how we need to change something. And while change is often necessary, I love how Couros reminds us that we need not change just to be current. We need to change if it makes us better. If it makes our classrooms and students better. If it makes us better educators. This summer, I took Couros’ message to heart and really pondered that thought. What can I change for the better? How can I be innovative?
Summer Musings
The lazy (well, somewhat...we all know teachers work a lot over the summer) summer days always give me time to reflect on the past year and think about what I want to change or mix up for the year ahead. I usually try and find some kind of theme in my summer musings, mainly because I’m a nerd who wants some thematically romanticized life, but I love having a word or two that wraps up the lessons I think I’ve learned during those sweltering days. This summer’s theme: innovation and creativity.
It started with a three day retreat with my fellow 7th grade ELA teammates. We were purposeful in our innovation. We wanted to get away and have specified time to reflect, create, design, and envision our year ahead. It was one of the best things we’ve done so far. I’ll write a post about that later, but for the most part, that retreat came to be because of the things we read in Couros’ book. How can we be innovative and not just change things to change them, but change them and create them to make our students better, and to make the world better? We are excited about a lot of different ideas for the year ahead, but one of the outcomes of that innovation retreat, was to stop reading a class novel that we’ve read for the last oh, 8 years. Scary, right? We decided that we needed to innovate because there were better resources out there. We had been reading that novel because it was fun and easy, and engaging, but it wasn’t really empowering. It didn’t challenge our students to the level that we have realized they need. So we decided to chuck it because we knew it would make our students, and our teaching, better.
Read it
In his book, Couros challenges us to a new way of thinking. He reminds us to build relationships, empower students, create a shared vision, and create meaningful learning. I could go on and on, but I really want you to read it. His message is refreshing and empowering for educators and designers alike.
Megan Gordon
7th Grade ELA
Find The Innovator’s Mindset here:
http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/5715
Visit George’s web site:
http://georgecouros.ca/blog/
Follow George on Twitter:
@gcouros
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