Author Archive
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
Leading School Change: 9 Strategies to Bring Everybody on Board by Todd Whitaker provides excellent general advice for education leaders who need to guide their cultures through meaningful changes with the goal of improving the quality of instruction. Todd draws on his wealth of experience as a leader and as an author to provide a book that every school principal and superintendent should add to their shelves.
Tags: Change, Leadership, Todd Whitaker
Posted in Book Summaries, Education Books, Leadership Books | Comments Off on Leading School Change: 9 Strategies to Bring Everybody on Board
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
In this book by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown, we find that the kind of learning that will define the 21st century will not take place in a classroom. It is happening all around us and it is powerful The growing digital network gives us nearly unlimited resources, while is connects us with others. Learning often takes place without books, teachers, or classrooms. Classrooms and teachers may not be obsolete, but the authors make a case that they must change.
© 2011 by Thomas and Brown ISBN-13: 978-1456458881
Tags: 21st Century Learning, A New Culture of Learning, Douglas Thomas, John Seely Brown
Posted in Book Summaries, Education Books | Comments Off on A New Culture Of Learning: What will define the 21st Century
Thursday, April 14th, 2011
This eye-opening book features the big idea that embracing mistakes can make us happier and more productive in every facet of our lives. It examines the tension between the idea that we must make mistakes to learn, and the fact that we often get punished for them. © 2011, Riverside Books: New York, New York
Another Way of Learning
- My teacher said I learn by making mistakes. Since I didn’t make any today, I guess I didn’t learn anything. This story is followed by the notion that when people think they must do everything perfectly, they can spend energy blaming each other rather than finding a solution. It results in defensiveness and accusations rather than apologies and forgiveness. Mistake prevention gets in the way of daring and innovation. Most of us think that mistakes make us look stupid.
(Re)Defining Mistakes
- My teacher said I learn by making mistakes. Since I didn’t make any today, I guess I didn’t learn anything. This story is followed by the notion that when people think they must do everything perfectly, they can spend energy blaming each other rather than finding a solution. It results in defensiveness and accusations rather than apologies and forgiveness. Mistake prevention gets in the way of daring and innovation. Most of us think that mistakes make us look stupid.
Tags: Alina Tugend, Better By Mistake, Book Summary
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books, Education Books, Leadership Books | Comments Off on Better By Mistake – Improve your life and performance by Alina Tugend
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education by Curtis Bonk tells the story of the ten openers that allow the Internet to change the face of education. Bonk builds on the work of Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat to explain how anyone can learn anything, anytime, anywhere. He uses abundant stories and examples to make his point. As you read you will want to check out places on the Web he mentions. Any educator, parent, student, or citizen should be familiar with Bonk’s Ten Openers. © 2009, Jossey Bass: San Francisco, CA.
Tags: Curtis Bonk, The World Is Open
Posted in Book Summaries, Education Books, What can Dr. Doug do for you? | Comments Off on The World Is Open – Curtis Bonk
Friday, March 18th, 2011
This book by Frans Johansson looks at breakthrough insights at the intersection of Ideas, concepts, and cultures. He recommends that you expose yourself to a range of cultures, learn differently, reverse your assumptions, and take on multiple perspectives. The tips on brainstorming research are worth the price alone. Johansson is a writer and consultant who lives in New York City.
Cultures Are Different
- How different cultures view a grasshopper? USA – pest, China – pet, N. Thailand – appetizer
- How different cultures view the color yellow? USA – cowardice, Malaysia – royalty, Venezuela – lucky underwear
Why Study Multiple Cultures
- Exposure to multiple cultures gives you more ways to look at an issue. Cultures can be ethnic, class, professional, or organizational in addition to geographic. This promotes open, divergent or even rebellious thinking. One is more likely to question rules, traditions, and boundaries. Languages codify concepts differently. Fluency in another language can promote varied perspectives during the creative process.
Learning Lots on Your Own
- Broad education and self-education are two keys to learning differently. Most fundamental innovations are achieved by people who are either very young or very new to the field. Learning fields on your own increases the chance of approaching them from different perspectives. Darwin: “all that I have learned of any value was self-taught.”
Prepare Your Mind
- Louis Pasteur found a forgotten culture of chicken cholera bacteria. When chickens were injected with it they got sick but recovered. These same chickens when injected with a fresh culture survived. Pasteur realized that the chickens had been immunized and that his old culture served as a vaccine.
Tags: Frans Johansson, Innovation, Medici Effect
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books, Education Books, Leadership Books | Comments Off on The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation
