True Colours
So just over a week ago Ecuador was hit by a massive earthquake that completely devastated many communities on the coast. Thousands and thousands of families have been deeply and tremendously impacted by this event, including members of our own school community here at Academia Cotopaxi, and it’s been a trying and emotional week for our country […]
If You Smile At Me…
So I’ve been thinking a lot about diversity these days, and it keeps bringing me back to one of my all time favourite song lyrics which goes, “If you smile at me I will understand, because that is something everybody, everywhere does in the same language”. You see, we’ve been focusing lately as a school […]
An Educational Responsibility
So this past Friday I presented at a regional TTT (Teachers Teaching Teachers) conference here in Quito, with over 1000 educators on hand to learn, to network, and to share their educational expertise with each other. It was a huge event and very well organized, all revolving around how to use innovative teaching practices to […]
Let’s Read!
So every year on my birthday I receive some money from my beautiful wife to spend on books. It’s the best gift that anyone could possibly give to me, and there’s nothing that I love more than to spend a day or two trying to figure out which books will make […]
Student Learning Communities (SLC’s)
So I’ve been doing a lot of research of late into the power of Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s), and looking into ways that we can tweak and improve our own current situation with regards to continuous professional learning, which if structured correctly will heavily impact ourselves as learners as well as […]
Thanks for the Feedback…
So I finished reading this really interesting book last week titled, Thanks for the Feedback , by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, and it opened up my eyes to how truly difficult it sometimes is to not only hear and process quality feedback, but how to give it in a manner that will […]
Be Quiet…
So about a month ago during our two week holiday break, I found myself floating down a river on a tube with nothing around me but the sights and sounds of the Amazon jungle, and the peacefulness and beauty of it all hit me like a fist to the jaw. I spent about an hour […]
Wanderlust!
So the next new country that I visit will be my 50th, and it’s fun to sit back once and awhile and reflect on all of the amazing experiences that I’ve had over the years exploring either by myself, or with my amazing wife, or now as a complete family. It’s also inspiring because I know that if […]
A Time for Reflection…
So here we are, a week into a brand new year with all of it lying stretched out before us. A clean slate of endless opportunity and promise, just waiting to be brought to life with each new day. I love coming back from the first semester break honestly, because I get to hear all […]
A Special Time of the Year…
So we’ve almost reached the holiday break at last! A few days to go and we’ll be off celebrating what in many ways has been a truly outstanding first semester. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for all your hard work over the past four months, and I feel honoured to be working with […]