Here are some notes about the Desired Results, along with a Wordle of the current document.

Wordle: Desired Results

While the word demonstrate is active in one sense, it is also passive in that demonstrating is done to show something to someone else, not DO it. Demographic statistics tell us that most GDS students would do just fine at any school in the country. Clearly, "fine" isn't good enough! We have a responsibility to the world of education to take risks and innovate, with the understanding that some of our explorations will not succeed. I also would like to see the following words come into play both for students and for teachers and I've made no effort to make them parallel.

discover, innovate, curious, resilience, explore, construct, connect, persistence,

In my mind, our core value must include the concept that students should leave school with not only a body of content knowledge but also a deep knowledge of themselves and the part they plan to play in the world around them.

I've started collecting quotesthat resonate with me about teaching and learning. Many of these are coming from my Twitter PLN stream.

Wagner's 7 traits from The Global Achievement Gap are a good starting point, along with Ken Robinson's focus on finding one's passion in The Element

1. Critical thinking and problem-solving
2. Collaboration
3. Adaptability and agility
4. Initiative and entrepreneurialship
5. Effective oral and written communication skills
6. Accessing and analyzing information
7. Curiosity and imagination — innovation and creativity

I've condensed and reorganized into 5 questions.


How will student collaborate in your classroom?

What does collaboration look like in your discipline?



How will students solve authentic problems in your class?

What authentic problems exist in your discipline?
How can students tackle them in meaningful ways?


How will students communicate to an authentic audience in your class?

What methods of publishing exist for students?


Will students leave your class empowered to be life-long learners?

With what tools do students need to leave your classroom equipped to learn independently in your discipline?


What will students create in your classroom?

What does creativity look like in your discipline?

An, finally, a graphic to think about what this might look like if we think of education as part of creating oneself.

CREATEYourself.gif