As a young Teacher it's refreshing to hear from a colleague who has committed his career to Excellence and who has seen great rewards. I am always looking for ways to motivate my students to produce their best work, and I think the tools Ron suggests are powerful in accomplishing that task. I've become a firm believer in each of the tools Ron chooses:
- Multiple Drafts
- Critique
- Making Work Public
- Using Assessment to Build Stronger Students
After experimenting with these tools and reading Ron's presentation of them I am even more excited to train my students in their use as we develop a culture of craftsmanship. "An Ethic of Excellence" is well worth a read.
The concept of multiple drafts reminds me of the spaghetti project - develop a prototype, test it, learn from it then redo the design and start again.
ReplyDeleteExactly! Thanks for sharing that Greg! I have to admit I wasn't immediately familiar with the "spagetti project". Here's what I came across though http://marshmallowchallenge.com/TED_Talk.html and I love the lessons presented here. To me it the iterative learning process just feels right. It feels authentic. From what I've seen in the classroom too is that is consistantly produces better results and deeper learning.
ReplyDelete