Tag: leadership

  • Podcast472: Remote Learning in Oklahoma #OklaEd

    This podcast is a recording of a webinar panel discussion by Oklahoma educators Telannia Norfar, Delilah Rodriguez, Rhonda Schroeder and Wesley Fryer on Saturday, April 25, 2020. Our topic of conversation was “Remote Learning in Oklahoma,” as we are now about a month into “learning at home” because of the neo-coronavirus / COVID-19 global pandemic.…

  • Professional Development and Identity

    The best professional development experiences are wonderful because they remind us of who we are: They affirm and support our evolving senses of identity in a complex world filled with mixed messages and lots of noise. In this post, I’d like to reflect briefly on professional development and identity. “The October 2019 #CUDenverLSI Design team…

  • Your “Normal” is Not Mine

    This past summer, my wife had the opportunity to attend the “Project Zero Conference” at Harvard with nine other teachers from our school. One of the biggest pedagogical themes of the conference was “visible thinking.” This involves thinking strategies that enable teachers as well as students to make their thinking literally visible in the classroom…

  • Teachers as Prophets: The Power to “PROF-a-sigh” Into Students’ Futures

    As a teacher, you may have not considered yourself to be a “prophet.” When we recognize, call out, and encourage special and unique giftedness in our students, however, I believe we can act as prophets in their lives. The verb “prophesy” (pronounced “PROF-a-sigh”) means “to predict something.” Have you ever recognized one of your students…

  • Essential Technology Support Staff Skills and Characteristics

    What are the most important skills and characteristics of the technology support staff members at your school or other organization? As the 2018-19 school year winds down, I’m wrapping up my fourth year to serve as the Director of Technology for Casady School in Oklahoma City. As I’ve been making preparations for a job transition…

  • Podcast461: Instructional Coaching, Middle School French Class and Explain Everything for iPad

    Welcome to episode 461 of Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer, from March 18, 2018. This podcast features an introductory overview about instructional coaching and technology integration coaching specifically, drawing on the author’s experiences in this role with teachers since the late 1990s. In addition to defining instructional coaching, keys to successful…

  • Bernie Sanders Explains Progressivism in the new Democratic Party

    The United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump is politically headed in the wrong direction. Rather than confronting potentially overwhelming and devastating issues like costly health care, climate change, and corruption in federal elections, our nation is poised to make bad situations even worse with misguided policies. I am hopeful the inquiry of…

  • Design Thinking Takeaways from Our #k12onlineconf Panel

    Last Friday after school I had an opportunity to facilitate a 60 minute panel discussion about “design thinking” with Brad Ovenell-Carter (@Braddo) in Vancouver, BC, Canada and Brian Lockwood (@BrianLockwood) in Copenhagen, Denmark for the K12 Online Conference (@k12online). In this post, I’ll share some of my learning points and takeaways from the panel discussion.

  • Changing Mindsets: STEM Is NOT Content Areas in Isolation

    As this fall semester has started, I’ve heard several stories about STEM classes and STEM teachers in other schools that have troubled me deeply. Some paraphrased quotations from new, full-time STEM teachers, have included: I’m going to teach some math lessons, and then we are going to do some hands-on science experiments. Later in the semester we…

  • TEDx Video Conversation Night

    Sunday nights at 8 pm is now #OklaEd Twitter chat time, and this past Sunday an idea for a new kind of educator gathering was hatched. It started with Tyler Bridges’ suggestion of an excellent TED talk to watch, “How to Fix a Broken School” by Linda Cliatt-Wayman. Her TED presentation video isn’t one I’ve seen…