Great leadership is not just finding the right people for the right job, but it is about unleashing talent, building upon strengths, and creating a culture of sharing. Reflecting and taking ownership of our weaknesses is the only way innovation and growth can occur.
Innovation involves taking the content, standards, and curriculum and looking at it through a new set of eyes. Using technology to combine standards and skills, allowing students to pursue their interests while staying within the realm of the what is needed to create a well-rounded student. It can be done!
One of the best things I have seen is when a Social Studies teacher was covering the Industrial Revolution. Students were allowed to research topics of interest from that period. For example, if a student were interested in medicine they may study medical advancements that took place like the smallpox vaccination. Teachers can then require the students to connect that progress to today. How did it change the way we look at diseases? What can we learn from it? ... If a student is interested in mechanics, let them choose to research on that from that period. The students can present, but they can also ask questions and discuss how these things connect during the industrial revolution, but also to today.
We don't subtract the necessary pieces of education, but we add meaning by relating it to what is interesting to students. Interest adds to engagement, which in turn increases opportunities for learning.
Looking at innovation and "change as an opportunity to do something amazing"!- George Couros