Being somewhat opinionated about the subject (who am I kidding – most subjects) and at the same time being more or less incapable of keeping my opinions to myself I have written here about what makes a good teacher a number of times. I’ve talked about subject matter expertise and passion for the subject...

Teachers are not recognized enough for the positive impact they make with their students. One of the most challenging aspects of doing this is for educators (and others) to recognize when positive impacts are being made. Often these benefits are seen down the road, when students come to back to visit...

Last summer I attended the US Innovative Education Forum in Redmond and came home quite inspired by the teachers and projects I saw. Dozens of teachers using technology to improve the quality and quantity of learning with their students. Microsoft Partners in Learning is now looking for this year’s crop...

The Microsoft Partners in Learning 2011 Global Forum wrapped-up last week with a bang. A lovely Gala Awards dinner in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. A fitting venue to conclude an energizing week with educators from around the world. The winners were announced recognizing 18 educators as...

Today, 12 U.S. educators, along with 103 educators from across the globe meet in Washington, DC for the 7th annual Microsoft Partners in Learning Global Forum. The Partners in Learning Global Forum is a celebration of innovative teaching practices and innovative schools, where educators and school leaders...

Can you think of a job or profession that is done alone? No co-workers to consult, no team responsible for contributing different pieces of a project, no meetings (well, maybe that might be okay ; ) It’s hard to come up with many. Artist? Author? (at least during the initial writing process). We could...

Defining and setting goals is a difficult process. Setting life goals and attempting to answer that big question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is perhaps one of the most challenging of all. Attempting to answer this depends on our stage of life, frame of reference and personal aspirations...

I have been blogging a lot recently on how teachers who are making projects real-world and authentic are achieving amazing outcomes (see salmon fishing in Alaska and student entrepreneurs ). We see plenty of words tossed around to describe the teaching we aspire toward: “21st century learning,”...

Fishing and land use are two critical issues for the state of Alaska. It may not come as a huge surprise that these issues are frequent topics of discussion in Jason Arthur’s class.  Jason teaches at Highland Tech High School in Anchorage. It might be assumed that he teaches social studies or a...

I was attracted to Frank Machos’ display from the Philadelphia School of the Future because of the MIDI music instruments and computers that he had.  When we talked, I discovered that this was not a music course, but a marketing class. Frank’s innovative approach is to get students to understand...

As many of you might recall there was a fair amount of blogging activity around the Partners in Learning 2011 U.S. Innovative Education Forum we hosted in July. The event brought together just over 100 educators from across the country to showcase and highlight innovative teaching practices that are...

This is a guest post from Margaret Noble a Media Arts educator from High Tech High in San Diego, CA. Margaret who had the opportunity to participate in the Microsoft Partners in Learning Middle East & Africa Innovative Education Forum and collaborate with educators from across these Middle East &...

This is the first of a couple of guest posts from two U.S. educators who had a rare opportunity to attend the Microsoft Partners in Learning Innovative Education Forum for the Middle East & Africa hosted in Aqada, Jordan last month. Here’s a dispatch from Doug Bergman, a high school computer science...

I got a chance to chat with Dr. Jane McGonigal, author of "Reality of Broken," at the US Innovative Education Forum at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, WA. Checkout her thoughts on gaming, learning through failure, and what Chief State School Officers should be doing on next-generation assessments...

On Friday evening we wrapped-up the Partners in Learning 2011 U.S. Innovative Education Forum (IEF) with the Gala Awards dinner on a fittingly stunning evening in Seattle. All 100 teachers gathered to celebrate, relax and reflect on an incredible 2+ days of project exhibitions, inspiring keynote presentations...

Last week was incredible at the US Innovative Education Forum. I’ll have more to say about that as this week goes on. Some great educators to highlight for example. Some lessons learned. And some pictures.BTW one of the teachers at the IEF, Kenneth Holden ( @kennetholden ) has posted his IEF Day 3 -...

Wow! Just WOW! I spent yesterday judging teacher projects as part of the US Innovative Educator Forum in Redmond. It was absolutely inspiring. In fact I would go as far as to say this was the most encouraging day in regards to American education I have ever spent. And yes that includes learning about...

For some competitions one selects a bunch of smart people, hands them a rubric and says “have at it. Be fair.” Honestly though is that really the way to do things? Generally not. When running a serious competition you want good judges, smart people who ...read more

I have been blogging quite a bit on this big event and we have 100 top innovative K-12 educators on our Redmond campus this week for the Partners in Learning 2011 U.S. Innovative Education Forum. Educators will exhibit projects that creatively use technology to positively impact learning. The top 10...

(Cross-posted from the Official Microsoft Blog ) School may be out for summer, but for many highly-motivated teachers and school leaders, there is no break. Educators are hard at work scouring the Web and connecting with their peers, looking for new teaching ideas to inspire their kids next year and...

Over the past two years or so in working with a diverse set of educators, digital storytelling, or some derivative thereof, continues to be one of the primary uses of technology in classrooms across all grades levels. Though we can argue about what the most pure definition of digital storytelling is...

I suppose this will not come as much of a surprise, especially for those teaching middle and high school, but the typical 9th grader isn’t often too concerned about global issues. While inspiring action (in anything) can be quite challenging except for maybe free food, Xbox or a quick text response....

This post could apply beyond teens as it really is about: how does someone put their best foot forward when looking for a job in highly competitive marketplace. Given the economic environment we’ve seen in the past few years this certainly is a theme that continues to resonate. Zoom in on St. Clair...

Today, we are excited and humbled by the many applications we received for the 2011 U.S. Partners in Learning Innovative Education Forum (IEF). Below are the finalists selected in Round 2 for this year’s forum that will be hosted on Microsoft’s main campus in Redmond, WA (July 27-29). This...

Microsoft Corp. today announced the selection of 72 additional educators to attend the 2011 Microsoft U.S. Innovative Education Forum (IEF). These finalists will be traveling to the Microsoft campus in Redmond in July to showcase the creative ways they ...read more