TED-Ed Blog » TED-Ed Innovation Projects

4 innovative educators share their visions for creating better classrooms

Emilie Soffe — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 17:01:16 +0000

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If you’ve ever had a conversation with an impassioned educator, you know that they are overflowing with brilliant, resourceful, innovative, and – in all likelihood – extremely under-circulated ideas.

We celebrate and elevate educator ideas for the sake of improving the experience of students and educators around the world. Over the course of the past year, participating educators hone in on their most important idea in education and develop it into a TED-style talk.

Below, four educators share their big ideas, covering topics from simple apps that promote classroom equity to an impassioned plea for more teacher collaboration in the classroom.

STACEY ROSHAN

How to use simple tech apps to support ALL learners

When Stacey Roshan was in high school, she feared the moment she might be called on in class. A self-described introvert and perfectionist, she needed time to process and formulate a response before she was ready to share. Now, as a math teacher, Stacey leverages technology to create more equitable and empowering forums for discussion in the classroom—shifting away from a culture that praises the first person to raise their hand to one where every individual has a platform to make their ideas seen and heard.

LISA WINER (TED-Ed Innovative Educator)

How to create lessons that showcase students’ diverse cultures

For so long, the norm in teaching has been to assimilate students: instructing each individual in the same way, regardless of their cultural background. Culturally sustaining pedagogy challenges that narrative, arguing that preserving student backgrounds and embracing diversity causes students to feel more comfortable, relaxed, and willing to learn. In this talk, Lisa Winer shares several lessons she uses in her math classroom that combine the principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy with self-determination theory to engage and energize her diverse group of students.

TAKERU NAGAYOSHI

Why teachers are just like YouTubers

In a 2019 survey of US kids aged 8-12, one third cited being a blogger or YouTuber as their top dream job. In another survey of high school students, only 5% indicated that they wanted to become a teacher. But 2020 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Takeru Nagayoshi believes that great teachers and great YouTubers are cut from the same cloth, and the more we treat educators with the same respect and prestige that we show to YouTubers, the better chance we have of attracting new talent to the profession.

KIM PRESHOFF (TED-Ed Innovative Educator)

How teacher collaboration strengthens the classroom

When COVID-19 hit schools, many parents and educators worried about the isolating effects of quarantine on students. But longtime educator Kim Preshoff notes that, for decades, teachers have been isolating themselves in their classrooms—often creating lessons, refining skills, and thinking in silos. In this talk, Kim draws on her background as an AP environmental teacher to make the case that the health of an ecosystem is its diversity—and that collaboration between educators in the classroom strengthens outcomes for teachers and students alike.

Each educator featured here participated in TED Masterclass — a professional learning program that helps people identify, develop and share their ideas with each other … and the world.

Want to bring the TED Masterclass program to your school, district or organization? Learn more here: http://bit.ly/tedmasterclass

Assessing innovations from the pandemic and reinvesting in educator well-being: 9 educators share their learnings

Daijah Guillermo — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 20:10:10 +0000

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This is part 2 in a series focusing on what educators are building through the TED-Ed Innovative Educator Alumni Innovation Projects. Read part 1 here.

The TED-Ed Innovative Educator Alumni Innovation Projects launched as a way to solve some of the most pressing issues in education by combining the strengths of inspiring educators who have completed the TED-Ed Innovative Educators (TIE) program. TIEs started the process by developing four Opportunity Statements based on problems they wanted to address in education right now. Those are:

1. Redesign instruction: Reimagine how instruction can comprehensively meet the needs of all students.

2. Redesign how we address inequities: Reimagine how to empower teachers and communities to address race, equity, inclusion, and justice issues.

3. Assess innovations from the COVID-19 pandemic: Assess how to carry forward the innovations created during the pandemic into full-time in-school instruction (and continue to build a culture of school/district innovation).

4. Reinvest in educators’ well-being: Reinvest in how best to support our teachers and admin, professionally, and personally.

Below we highlight some key takeaways from projects that were completed around two Opportunity Statements: assessing innovations from the COVID-19 pandemic and reinvesting in educators’ well-being.

Assessing innovations from the COVID-19 pandemic

Dylan Ferniany, Chief Academic Officer, K-5 (Alabama, USA)

“The COVID-19 pandemic upended the education system overnight. As we re-enter our new normal, we may want to jump right back into the way things were. We have an opportunity to do things differently. This project is a reflection on our pre-pandemic and post-pandemic practices.”

Through the development of her project, Dylan explains that virtual and in-person learning are not mutually exclusive. After conducting a survey, she found that not only have channels of communication between teachers and families become more fluid, but educational practices have also become more transparent – revealing a spectrum of learning options for both children and adults. Dylan suggests that reflecting on and integrating the practices that were introduced during the pandemic is invaluable to education today. These practices can help teachers and school administrators better serve their students across various modes of instruction.

Eric Johnson, 6th Grade Self-Contained Teacher (Indiana, USA)

“We were witnesses to and participants in a real paradigm upheaval, unprecedented uncertainty, and almost constantly changing direction from a lot of different input points. I wanted to capture the focus of changes in instructional practices.”

By speaking with a number of educators and leading external surveys, Eric brought to light the positives that arose from remote learning. His findings indicated that many respondents found their teacher-student relationships to be strong or stronger in virtual classrooms. Eric emphasizes that relationships and empathy are crucial during these times as teachers achieve a greater understanding of students and their environments through literally having windows into each others’ lives.

Lisa Winer, Math Teacher, Doctoral Student in Teaching and Learning (Florida, USA)

“My goal is to share educational findings during the time of COVID-19 on how to best foster student engagement and conversations about math, deepen learning, and lessen anxiety through educational technology and flipped learning.”

Lisa collected data through surveys and a focus group of students to gain a better understanding of how to innovate the teaching of mathematics in the 21st century classroom. She found that– from a student perspective– hybrid models, Google forms for questions, and devices in the classroom (such as a Wacom or an iPad) facilitate effective flipped learning. Lisa suggests implementing traditional teaching methods for new material and flipped learning for less complex material. Additionally, she recommends that educators create videos of their lessons for review so that all students are supported and can grow confidence in their learning.

Maggie Muuk, High School Language Teacher, English and Technology (Kching, Malaysia)

“Many students do not have sufficient access to gadgets or the internet to enable them to stay aligned with lessons and teachers do not have enough exposure [to these tools]. I integrated TED-Ed and I guided them through the ‘how’ and the ‘why.’”

Maggie created a supplementary program at her school using TED-Ed materials to foster students’ critical thinking, deepen their language learning, and develop their discussion skills. By working closely with teachers to promote exposure to a variety of learning tools, Maggie found that many students improved their reading and writing skills while also learning how to construct ideas.

Małgorzata Guzicka, High School Teacher (Legnica, Poland)

“I remember how surprised I was when I started sharing problems with other teachers and other TIEs and seeing how common these problems were. I thought students could have a similar platform where they could connect and share insights.”

After taking inspiration from the TIE program and similar spaces, Małgorzata intends to create an online space where students can learn from each other on an international scale. On this platform, students would be able to meet, learn how to express their opinions, learn about different cultures, improve their language skills, and receive emotional support– all while acknowledging their shared experiences. She was able to lead a call with multiple students and a fellow TIE, Maggie Muuk, and found that her students thoroughly enjoyed participating in the space. With her project, Małgorzata emphasizes the value of connection and collaboration in educational communities, especially during challenging times.

Mitzi Stover Former HS English and Speech Teacher, Current Community College English Teacher (California, USA)

“This is an opportunity to build a better educational system for all students. We should not be looking to ‘return to normal.’ What have we learned in the last sixteen months that we can bring back to our face-to-face classrooms? How can we make education even better?”

Mitzi’s project honed in on the implementation of hard and soft deadlines in the classroom. After identifying improved practices that resulted from virtual learning, Mitzi advocates for flexible deadlines as a way to promote student agency and overall equity. Benefits of hard and soft deadlines include the practice of time management for students and, for teachers, less daunting inboxes and more autonomous students.

Timothy Couillard, High School Physics and Ethics Teacher (Virginia, USA)

“How do we prevent the teacher from being the bottleneck and gatekeeper that stunts what the learning experience could be? How do we encourage authentic collective learning in students that is more than transactional?”

Timothy’s innovation hones in on the value of collective learning and collaborative adventure. For his project, Timothy proposed the creation of a system based on “open world” role-playing game mechanics whereby students have permission to guide their own learning experiences and iterate on each other’s work. Educators can create shared work spaces with an open media component for their students with simple tools like Google Sheets, for example. This framework can then be implemented in more structured core classes that often lack flexibility.

TED-Ed Innovative Educator Alumni

Reinvesting in educators’ well-being

Sarah Harkin, Student and Educator (Shanghai, China)

“I wanted to learn more about the systemic factors that contribute to and hinder teacher well-being. I hope to find real ways to help build teacher capacity and systemic support within schools in order to better prioritize teacher well-being, specifically mental health and work-life balance.”

From research collected from an educator well-being and wellness survey and prior literature, Sarah recognized that there seemed to be three categories of obstacles teachers collectively face: environmental (e.g. the systems they are a part of), personal (e.g. being a caregiver), and career-related (e.g. job requirements, mentorship). She advocates for solutions such as mental health days, restrictions on meetings per week, mental health resources, mentoring, and better training programs for teachers.

Sharon Hadar, Geography Teacher (Raanana, Israel)

“Teachers like nurses, doctors, and other professionals are the base of a community because we teach future generations. What do we need? Is it up to us to deal with our well-being?”

Sharon worked closely with other TIEs to create and distribute a survey regarding educator well-being. She stresses the importance of having a platform to monitor and collect data regarding the individual and collective teacher experience. With this data, members of educational institutions gain incredible insight about how to better serve teachers, students, and families overall.

Check out Part 1, which highlights TIE Innovation Projects addressing inequities in the classroom as well as approaches to redesigning instruction! Many of the TIEs are continuing their alumni engagement and are developing talks on their ideas of how to better education. Updates on TIE talks will be shared in the coming months. And check out our Educator Talks channel, which is dedicated to celebrating and elevating the ideas of educators working in classrooms and schools throughout the world.

Redesigning instruction and addressing inequities: 6 TED-Ed Innovative Educators share their learnings

Daijah Guillermo — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 17:19:29 +0000

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Earlier this year, alumni of the TED-Ed Innovative Educator (TIE) program embarked on their respective Innovation Project journeys – uniting their myriad gifts and experiences to tackle global issues in education. TIEs started the process by developing four Opportunity Statements based on problems they wanted to address in education right now. Those are:

1. Redesign instruction: Reimagine how instruction can comprehensively meet the needs of all students.

2. Redesign how we address inequities: Reimagine how to empower teachers and communities to address race, equity, inclusion, and justice issues.

4. Reinvest in educators’ well-being: Reinvest in how best to support our teachers and admin, professionally, and personally.

Each TIE picked an Opportunity Statement, went through design-thinking exercises to determine their project focus, and went out to test their potential solutions in their communities. Over six months, they met on a call every two weeks, provided updates on their projects, and gave feedback on each other’s progress. Their final learnings were then shared among the group with presentations. Below we highlight some key takeaways from projects that were completed around two Opportunity Statements: redesigning instruction and redesigning how we address inequities.

Explore innovation projects about assessing innovations from the COVID-19 pandemic and reinvesting in educators’ well-being in part 2 of this series.

Redesigning instruction

Georgios Villias, Biology Teacher (Athens, Greece)

“Nourishing student curiosity, offering outdoor opportunities for observation, making inquiry and project-based learning a routine, offering more autonomy that is the recipe for a successful rise in student awareness and empowerment.”

For Georgios, identifying approaches that actively engage students and further their development of knowledge and skill is paramount to education. Being a biology teacher, Georgios surveyed a few of the National Geographic Certified Educators to spotlight successful practices within the National Geographic Learning framework that encourage student engagement and motivation. To effectively implement these practices, he suggests educators must be willing to exit their comfort zones and make necessary adjustments in curriculum, training, and/or policy.

Mahrukh Bashir, Director/Teacher (Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia)

“Education is all about providing rich learning experiences customized to a child’s learning needs, talents, and dispositions. We want an environment that is rich, encouraging, and engaging.”

Mahrukh designed a heutagogical framework where students receive personalized, structured learning based on their interests, capabilities, and talents. With continuous feedback from parents, teachers, and students themselves, Mahrukh was able to successfully implement this framework into her school. As a result, students were able to hone in on their respective passions while also developing their own autonomy in their educational spaces.

TED-Ed Innovative Educator Alumni

Redesigning how we address inequities

Aletha Williams, Lead Teacher (Houston, Texas)

“I chose to participate in the Innovation Project because it gave me the opportunity to speak about the racial inequalities that are happening in schools and because of the things that I was seeing in my own district.”

Aletha’s project aimed to create a framework that allows teachers, students, and parents to address school board members at town halls regarding inequalities occurring in the district. After a successful test run of her town hall meetings concept, the district is now changing the student code of conduct to be more inclusive. Additionally, they are looking into hiring more teachers of color and including a Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to serve the district.

Tim Leistikow, High School Teacher (Minnesota, USA)

“Empowering starts with radical truth-telling. I was humbled by the vulnerability that my colleagues showed while sharing with one another about what it means to be white educators and how whiteness shows up in ways that can negatively impact the learning environment.”

Tim centered his project on discussions about racial and social justice issues in the classroom and leaning into the discomfort that can arise during them. He was inspired by TIEs of color who worked on uplifting marginalized voices and navigating inequity in their communities. He realized that understanding his role as a white, male educator would allow him to show up more authentically for his students. During the past spring, he met with other white educators to unpack their racial identities and explore ways to better learning environments for all students.

Tobye Ertelt, Digital Teacher Librarian (Colorado, USA)

“I want to be able to help students find ways to use their voices without fear. There are too many people within the system right now that are unwilling to change. We have to shift the power source to those who want to see the change and enact the change.”

Tobeye’s innovation consists of creating both an equity center that would serve as a safe-space for students to seek support of all kinds. With these platforms in place, students will learn how to become advocates, find resources to support themselves in various arenas, seek mental support, embrace diversity, and become allies. During the project Tobye was able to start a pilot for the “Virtual Equity Center,” with plans to move it into a physical space down the road.

Wiputra Cendana, Educational Technology Coordinator/Academic Lecturer (Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia)

“This project is to [provide] a new learning model as I synthesize from a particular current teaching experience. I am finding that in lecture we have really high standards and want the students to go up to that standard, but we need to meet the students where they are. We are trying to find a win-win solution and bring them up together.”

Wiputra and his colleagues conducted a research study that tested a framework for approaching inequities in a college classroom, specifically in the context of varying learning speeds. The study demonstrated that modifying the curriculum and providing additional teaching materials enabled slower learners to pass their Computer and Learning Media course. To implement these findings in broader contexts, it is imperative that instructors maintain high flexibility and a design process for each step of learning (before, during, and after lessons).

Check out Part 2, which highlights projects focused on assessing innovation during the pandemic and reinvesting in teacher well-being. Our TIEs are continuing their alumni engagement and are developing Talks sharing their ideas on how to better education. Keep an eye out for updates on TIE Talks in the coming months! And check out our Educator Talks channel, which is dedicated to celebrating and elevating the ideas of educators working in classrooms and schools throughout the world.

Introducing the launch of the TED-Ed Innovative Educator Alumni Innovation Projects

Steph Ng — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 21:52:09 +0000

TED-Ed Innovative Educators

In 2015, TED-Ed launched the TED-Ed Innovative Educator (TIE) program, a year-long professional development program for dynamic educators who are dedicated to celebrating the ideas of students and teachers around the world. Six years later, we have 104 alumni representing over 20+ countries, constantly thinking of new ways to innovate in education.

2020 brought on unpredictable levels of global change: a pandemic, racial reckoning, and world-wide political upheavals. The traditional system of schooling has experienced significant disruptions in the past year.

These changes signaled a call to action: the TIEs, coming from rural, urban and suburban communities, in roles including classroom teachers, adjunct professors, superintendents, librarians, college advisors, district tech specialists, and more, are coming together to build some solutions.

First, the TIEs identified problems in global education and turned them into four main Opportunity Statements:

1. Redesign instruction: Reimagine how instruction can comprehensively meet the needs of all students.
2. Redesign how we address inequities: Reimagine how to empower teachers and communities to address race, equity, inclusion, and justice issues.
3. Assess innovations in pandemic: Assess how to carry forward the innovations created during the pandemic into full-time in-school instruction (and continue to build a culture of school/district innovation).
4. Reinvest in educators’ well-being: Reinvest in how best to support our teachers and admin, professionally and personally.

Next, each TIE has chosen one Opportunity Statement to work on for their Innovation Project. Follow their journey over this year as they collaborate, design, test, and share their innovations; we will be reporting back through the project development.

Explore why some TIEs are working on their chosen Innovation Project:

Redesign instruction

Alejandra Guzman (Texas, USA)

I have worked in the curriculum and instruction department in two different school districts over the last 6 years. I know that in many schools, some parts of instruction, curriculum, and assessment are out-dated, focused too much on standardized assessments and not on deep learning, making connections with other content areas, and application to solve real-world problems. This type of instruction will strengthen student critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills. I believe rethinking what instruction should and can look like and creating a realistic instructional model will help many educators go back to focus on what the true meaning of education should be.

Christie Simpson (Perth Western, Australia)

I work at school in a low socio-economic area. We have high rates of poverty and transiency and over 60% of our students have some developmental trauma. Only 35% of our Year 7 students arrive at high school able to read at grade level. 35% are still learning to read with fluency and 30% are still learning to decode words. How do teachers cater for this? Mostly, they try to muddle through the vast amounts of content in our curriculum, often using ineffective – though well-intentioned – discovery or inquiry based learning practices. I know there is great value in those models, but I also know that our students need strong foundational literacy and numeracy capacity as well as concrete background knowledge which they can draw on as they start to inquire. I’d like to see us arm teachers at both ends of the instructional spectrum, so that they can competently and effectively meet their students at their point of need.

Georgios Villias (Athens, Greece)

I honestly believe that living in a world which overwhelms us daily with information, it is humanly impossible to stay focused on something unless it is useful, exciting, and meaningful for you. This reality applies to schools as well. Instruction should be much more than just content knowledge. Instruction should also care about developing skills, showcasing each individual’s unique talents, engaging learners to act in real-life situations, nourishing and inspiring youngsters’ minds, teaching moral values in a social context and so much more. Molding students’ character, encouraging active citizenship, and raising the next generation of ethical problem-solvers always start from family and school. I would be honored as an educator to make even a minor, constructive contribution to my students’ lives towards that direction.

“Instruction should be much more than just content knowledge.”

Kristin Leong (Washington, USA)

Students and teachers deserve more diverse, timely, and dynamic resources and more support. Teaching is hard. Online teaching during a pandemic, a civil rights uprising, and an insurrection is really hard. In addition, the news cycle is relentless. The Sisyphean task of educators to constantly find great resources to build an engaging curriculum that responds to quickly-shifting current events is profoundly challenging. Lastly, our students are increasingly diverse in race, culture, sexual orientation, and gender identity, while our teachers remain mostly white, female, and heterosexual. Connecting with young people across these divides, when you instruct 30+ students at a time, only compounds the challenge of designing original curriculum. As a former QPOC teacher myself, I know teachers need more support and a reliable flow of trustworthy and updated resources by diverse sources to connect their classrooms to current events in ways that inspire students to engage with the world and their learning.

My weekly newsletter ROCK PAPER RADIO is one way I’m offering support to teachers. Every Thursday, I share three multimedia stories by diverse thinkers and creatives delivered via email for free. The newsletter is quick (less than five min to read), and organized by format (an audio feature, an essay or article, a human interest story). All stories are linked to current events and framed for personal engagement.

The Black Lives Matter movement has shaken awake all of the systems that make up society, including our education system. Young people are paying attention and rightfully demanding more inclusive and more current curriculum now. I’m thrilled to be part of this TIE alumni group working to usher in that much-needed change with heart, innovation, and more than a little bit of courage.

Mahrukh Bashir (Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia)

I have encountered instructional models dominated by the ideas of transfer of content and knowledge with the implicit understanding that learners are merely vessels to be filled. This system had, and still has, standardized curricula delivered in standardized ways and the effectiveness assessed using standardized testing. On the other hand, I have been refreshingly greeted by ideas of developing students’ talents and dispositions, differentiation and individual needs. However, the perfect instructional model that takes into account individual needs and delivers academic rigor and deep learning is yet to present itself. I want to explore and implement an innovative model of instruction that comes closest to this, what has effectively become “the holy grail of modern education.”

Reimagine how we address inequities

Craig Zimmer (Ontario, Canada)

I love the fact that we are having some real conversations here. We need to advocate for students and show that, as educators, we are on their side no matter what. In 2021, we have to ensure that education is inclusive and accessible to all students. This is going to require very big changes and it all starts when we go to work to bring about real reform.

Fred Sagwe (Kisii, Kenya)

I believe the approach to inequities on race, equity, inclusion and social justice issues means different things depending on the region and countries. For example in Kenya and most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the challenges have a gender-based perspective. There was the challenge of FGM among young girls who, after circumcision, are married young, hence dropping out of schools. Also, marginalization in less developed regions in Kenya also hinder favorable educational outcomes. School infrastructure is a concern too, including the availability of reliable internet connectivity. The government is trying to remedy the situations.

Jen Ward (Michigan, USA)

This past year has served to highlight in so many different ways the divides, gaps, and inequalities that are systematized in our educational spaces. I selected this project because I believe as a global group of change-makers, we are able to come together, dig deep, and put forth proposals for real change to ensure that all students have an opportunity to learn, grow, and be heard.

Sandy Chambers (North Carolina, USA)

Working to change a system that perpetuates inequities is my calling. Working with others who believe that change can happen is inspirational and hopeful. As an administrator, I have more “power” than I think. I know we can make a change!

“Empowering starts with radical truth-telling, which means listening to all stakeholders, especially students.”

Shameka Williams (Georgia, USA)

I want better for all students that have unfair disadvantages due to a system that was not historically designed with all children in mind. I want better for each generation, so they do not experience the same setbacks as those before them and have to work harder to prove themselves as equal. Moreover, I want to tackle this problem with others that bring different perspectives so that the narrative and outcomes are inclusive of everyone! One perspective cannot be the solution to this global issue.

Tim Leistikow (Minnesota, USA)

I am not sure how we achieve any meaningful change in our system (I teach in the USA, but I assume similar issues in other countries) until we start telling the truth about the history that led to the inequities that exist and persist today. Empowering starts with radical truth-telling, which means listening to all stakeholders, especially students. I have done a project with students on creating the ideal education system for the past 10 years, and every cohort sees addressing inequities around race, gender, religion, sexuality, socio-economic status, and more, as being a primary first step to making schools a better place for students.

Wiputra Cendana (Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia)

Equity and equality become great challenges especially for the students who have learning difficulties, connectivity issues, and other variables. This project is to give a new learning model as I synthesize from a particular current teaching experience. I truly hope the project will be a small sparkle and idea which can equip educators around the world to confront these issues. Entrust the learning essence and ‘meat’ will be absorbed well by the students across the world. Let’s think globally, connect intentionally, share clearly, and act locally.

Assess innovations during the pandemic

Lisa Winer (Florida, USA)

I found that during Hybrid teaching, I couldn’t see my students’ work – they used to work on whiteboards or I could walk around and see how well they understood. But even then, I didn’t hear from or see everyone. For my capstone project for my EdD, I am researching how to add ed tech to the classroom to help capture student thought and to include the voices of the students who are quiet or who aren’t risk-takers. I want to hear from all students and showcase them all as well. This was something brought forth from the pandemic because never before had I not been able to see the work of my students as they were thinking.

Maggie Muuk (Kching, Malaysia)

I would want to know more about innovation as many of my students were left behind by this pandemic. Many of them do not have sufficient access to gadgets or internet to enable them to stay aligned with the lesson. Currently, we are only using WhatsApp to communicate. I’m looking for low technology to make them want to study.

Małgorzata Guzicka (Legnica, Poland)

I truly believe that because of the pandemic, we have rediscovered online learning. Teachers are learning how to use different platforms and educational apps to enhance online learning; students are doing projects in groups using educational websites. I think it would be awesome if students and teachers from different countries could work and learn from one another, do projects together and meet online. I am thinking about a project that could help teachers and students learn from one another about their cultures.

Shawn T. Loescher (California, USA)

The pandemic has represented a time of tremendous learning for our educational and social institutions. Within the pandemic, nearly 1.5 billion children around the world have had disruptions to their typical educational environment. Through this disruption, we have learned that there are multiple modalities and ways of learning. To me, the challenge we face as we emerge from the pandemic is which of the many successful lessons we’ve learned should be adopted and institutionalized to advance academic performance, address inequities, and redesign our schools, in order to create a more human-centered experience that is sustainable in scale and scope.

“The students we will meet on the other side of this pandemic will deserve better than a return to the ‘old normal.’”

Susan Herder (Minnesota, USA)

Educators and students were forced to change suddenly in the midst of the pandemic, often without adequate support. I chose this project because as we return to a combination of in-person and online classes, teachers need to be able to let go of the practices that are not effective and continue to use innovations that engage students and close gaps and eliminate inequities.

Tim Couillard (Virginia, USA)

Well frankly, there is no going back. The students we will meet on the other side of this pandemic will deserve better than a return to the “old normal.” I suspect (and secretly hope) they will demand it. Amid the toll and tragedy of this past year, I hope we find a way to get education “unstuck,” to shed the lockstep factory model of learning once and for all. Let’s hope that necessity is still the mother of invention. I suspect that we have all had a chance to cultivate some new habits of mind that will be as useful in-person as they are at a distance. I’m excited to see where that leads us.

Lastly, I hope that we abandon, or at least push back against, the anxiety-fueled march of “more is more” when it comes to education. Students are people first, learners second. They are more than the test data the system can coax from them to tout their “success.” If we truly believe in social and emotional learning, we need to reject it as a mere tool to boost productivity. We need to not only mean what we say, but ask ourselves if our actions match our words. Ultimately, I hope we can look back on all this and say, tired as we are, we still found the strength to work for a world where what we have gained from this pandemic will be greater than all we have lost.

Umar Anjum (Lahore, Pakistan)

I am working on this as I have seen that inequalities and gaps in the education system have been growing and merely adding more resources is not helping. That is why I believe the answer is hidden in the Innovations.

Reinvest in educators’ well-being

Sarah Harkin (Shanghai, China)

Self-care isn’t just a buzzword; it’s critical. So much is asked of teachers. I hope to find real ways to help build teacher capacity and systemic support within schools in order to better prioritize teacher well-being, specifically mental health and work-life balance.

“Self-care isn’t just a buzzword; it’s critical.”

Sharon Hadar (Raanana, Israel)

During the pandemic, most things have become accelerated – emotions, thoughts, worries, health issues, financial difficulties, and more. On top of this, education systems and educators have been put under the microscope. We get so much criticism from parents, the media, politicians, our administrators, and more.

We, the educators, are the foundation and base for our communities. Our well-being is essential for our communities; teachers have to support each other, be strong, and stay united. It is also making sure there is a way to release and vent, while at the same time find the strength to continue doing our job the best way we can. I want to find the right way to do this, together with the rest of the TIEs, as a part of a strong and cohesive group that can change people’s viewpoint about teachers. It’s time for us to take care and support each other. I am sure that with this project we will find the best way to achieve this!

Meet the fourth cohort of TED-Ed Innovative Educators!

Neveen Mourad — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 15:16:04 +0000

TED-Ed Innovative Educators, cohort four

What could education look like if every innovative voice from the classroom to the superintendent boardroom was shared and amplified globally?

The fourth cohort of TED-ED Innovative Educators and the TED-Ed Team are embarking on a mission to find out. We are extremely excited to introduce cohort four of the TED-Ed Innovative Educators program– sixteen amazing and influential leaders in education who together are setting out on a journey to improve education by elevating the most important ideas in education worldwide.

Using TED Masterclass, each TED-Ed Innovative Educator will hone in on their most important idea in education and develop it into a TED-style talk. Not only that, but they will play a vital role in catalyzing a movement to empower educators everywhere to develop, refine, and share their best ideas in education, with the ultimate goal of improving education everywhere, for every student.

Curious to see how TED Masterclass will help these inspired leaders in education amplify their ideas? So are we! We’ll be back later this year to share the evolution of their ideas as you watch them deliver their TED-style talk. Start by reading below – and stay tuned for more to come!

We asked each educator one question: if you could share one idea with every educator in the world, what would it be?

Jerry Almendarez, Superintendent, Colton Joint Unified School District, Colton, CA, USA:

“Educational inequities – identifying inequities within your own district and determining how to address them.”

Mathew Burt, Principal, Broome Senior High School, Kimberely, Cable Beach, WA, Australia:

“Celebrating and engaging Indigenous students in positive education experiences.”

Jeewan Chanicka, Superintendent of Schools, Superintendent Equity, Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression, Toronto District School Board, Toronto, Ontario, Canada:

“The significance of understanding our personal identity as a way to improve practice and close achievement and well-being gaps in education. Who we are matters: it influences what and how we teach and which students are successful in our classrooms and schools.”

Carol Cleveland, Principal, iGrad Academy, Kent School District, Bremerton, WA, USA:

“The idea of allowing students to own their educational journey. This involves allowing students who demonstrate mastery of standards to progress through grade levels at their own pace, to select teachers whose personality and instructional style best matches their learning style and personality… to allow students to intern on jobs and move into pre-apprenticeship programs… to get a better post-secondary understanding of what career journey they want and can afford to pursue.”

Brenda Erickson, Montessori teacher and Founder & CEO of Counterpane, Counterpane Montessori School, Fayetteville, GA, USA:

“Trust the minds inside those little (and big) people!”

Greg Farrell, Principal on Special Assignment, Principal Leadership Development, York Region DSB, York, Ontario, Canada:

“He who wants for nothing has the world as their oyster…”

Jesse Jackson, Superintendent, Lake Wales Charter Schools, Lake Wales, FL, USA:

“I would share the ‘power of potential.’ The power of potential is a strategy that I have explored working with seemingly difficult or wayward teenagers. This idea requires you to relinquish preconceived notions and understandings and work with what could be ‘potential.’”

Russell Lazovick, Superintendent, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District, New Jersey, USA:

“Connection. Of ideas, of systems, and most importantly of people, [connection] is the most often overlooked and yet the most critical piece in determining the success of our schools.”

Shawn Loescher, Chief Executive Officer, Urban Discovery Schools, San Diego, CA, USA:

“How design thinking supports reimagining the educational experience for students, teachers, staff, schools and our communities.”

Sarah Mansfield, Assistant Head of School, St. Christopher’s School, Richmond, VA, USA:

“To cultivate a generation of 21st century learners and leaders, a culture of collaboration is essential.”

Shemeka Millner-Williams, Assistant Superintendent, Lancaster ISD, Duncanville, TX, USA:

“As the world continues to grow, change and diversify, so must the methods we utilize, the spaces we build, the resources and tools we use… We must endeavor to create critical thinkers, self-starters and problem-solvers with the ability to empathize with others in a way that forces them to work toward the common good of all humanity.”

Chris Muller, Former Superintendent, current University Lecturer and Consultant, Senior Lecturer at Education University of Hong Kong, Cape Town, South Africa:

“International schools represent a world-wide, grass roots endeavor to educate, under one roof, children of many lands and cultures by means of a curriculum that is challenging, internationally recognized, and that taps into the resources of a diverse community. [...] Such a vision requires an education that is academically rigorous while promoting values in the principles of compassion for others, virtuous behavior and the pursuit of justice and peace.”

Becky Navarre, Assistant Superintendent of STEM, Fort Worth Independent School District, Fort Worth, TX, USA:

“Build relationships first, value the individual and support others to succeed.”

Gonzalo Salazar, Superintendent, Los Fresnos CISD, Los Fresnos, Texas, USA:

“Our students come to us with funds of knowledge and a set of core values that are passed on through parents and grandparents through the “pedagogies of the home” (Dolores Delgado Bernal). [...] Storytelling can serve as a vehicle that helps students arrive at a better understanding of the self. A better understanding of the self will empower students with the self-assurance that reveals their full potential.”

Peter Ulrich, Assistant Superintendent, Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, Savannah, GA, USA:

“I’d really like to revisit my TEDx Talk from 2016, Simple Solution of Love, about showing love for the teachers in your life. I’d like to refine the message about the importance of recognition of our teachers in hopes of gaining a larger audience to elevate educators.”

Jill Vinson, Superintendent, Cardiff School District, San Diego, CA, USA:

“Education is a team sport.”

We look forward to seeing these ideas develop and shine through TED Masterclass, and we will share their final talks with you later this year!

Share these 20 brilliant ideas with your favorite teachers (and everyone else)

Laura McClure — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 21:18:47 +0000

What’s one thing that you’d like to see educators try out in 2018?

We asked the TED-Ed Innovative Educators to share their favorite ideas. Here’s what they suggest:

It’s 2018! Drop the double-negative zero. Let students revise until they get it right. And get your students to deliver TED-Ed Club talks! — Josefino Rivera
It’s time to realize that as long as we keep telling our students that their average matters more than the value of their creativity and the quality of their character, we will continue to graduate generations of young people who only see school as a hoop to jump through. Students deserve more. — Karen Goepen-Wee
Expose students to the process of design thinking. This allows them to solve real-world problems and to expand their creativity. — Jenny Lehotsky
Explore more technology options, so that students are exposed to a global classroom. Both teachers and students should be willing to change the way they learn in a classroom. — Maggie Muuk
Encourage students to embrace difficult and courageous conversations, leaning into discomfort of disagreements for understanding and empathy. — Nola-Rae Cronan
Empower students and teachers to explore Sustainable Development Goals. — Yau-Jau Ku
Let the kids think for themselves. Teach the kids to be curious and act upon it. Teach them to research. — Sharon Hadar
Bring mindfulness into the lives of our students and educators to create more peace in the world. — Pen-Pen Chen
I think its time to introduce more critical/independent thinking. I would love to have TED-Ed Clubs in the curriculum. — Malgorzata Guzicka
Let’s design more learning experiences that build on our students’ strengths. — Della Palacios
Assign a super-ambitious project, and go through the entire process yourself before the students give it a shot. — Jimmy Juliano
Transform schools into hubs for critical thinking, creativity and innovation. We can do this by supporting project-based learning, design thinking and maker-space initiatives. — Jorge Alvarez
Let’s allow students the flexibility in their research, writing, speaking, and projects to explore ideas and topics that matter to them. Let’s stimulate intellectual curiosity. — Mitzi Stover
I would love to see a concentrated focus on teaching conflict resolution skills and healthy means of expressing civil discourse. — Shannon Brake
Build/modify an activity that asks the students to interact with another student, teacher, parent, or friend outside of their classroom. The goal is to work with someone different as a team and be available for feedback or give a different perspective. — Corey Holmer
Create a classroom full of globally literate students with empathy and understanding. — Kim Preshoff
Inspire an overall LOVE of learning in your students by connecting them to people and places outside the walls of your classroom or school. — Jen Hesseltine
Empower students to create their own lessons about things that they learned and love and want to share with peers. — Lisa Winer
Use the power of interactive storytelling to create memorable and engaging classroom experiences. — Tim Couillard
I’d like to see teachers try thinking and operating outside their comfort zones. We come to the profession with our own biases, and I’d love to see people throw that out and try something that makes them uncomfortable and let their students watch them grow and learn alongside their students. And salsa dancing. Every teacher should try salsa dancing. — Carla Staffa

24 game-changing ideas from educators

Laura McClure — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 11:00:19 +0000

Every great innovation starts with a powerful idea. The 24 powerful ideas below are recommended by educators, for educators, as part of the TED-Ed Innovative Educator program. After engaging in two months of online professional development and attending a TED conference, each TED-Ed Innovative Educator is challenged to create and share an innovative project that can be replicated by other educators. To meet the amazing TED-Ed Innovative Educators who brought these 24 ideas to life, start here. To get inspired by innovations that matter from educators around the world, read on:

This article is part of the TED-Ed Innovation Project series, which highlights innovative projects shaped by educators, for educators, with the support and guidance of the TED-Ed Innovative Educator program. You are welcome to share, duplicate and modify project ideas under this Creative Commons license to meet the needs of students and teachers. Explore more ideas from teachers and TED-Ed Innovation Projects here.

Teach STEM through interactive storytelling

Laura McClure — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 11:00:09 +0000

BIO

Tim Couillard was 22 years old when he taught his first physics and chemistry classes at James River High School in Virginia. Two decades later, this TED-Ed Innovative Educator is still there, happily teaching science and ethics to teenagers. “I believe my mission in life is to make education better than it is, and to help those around me do great things,” says Tim. Keep reading for some innovative teaching ideas and tips from this inspiring science teacher and TEDx organizer.

IDEA

Tabletop role playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, can be a valuable source of inspiration for science teachers. To increase student engagement, try embedding STEM concepts in a character-driven, story-based quest.

INNOVATION PROJECT

“The goal of my project was to explore the impact that role playing games (RPGs) could have in the classroom,” says Tim. “I ran a couple iterations of story-based projects — The Great Escape and Beyond the Great Escape — getting student feedback about RPG-style lessons. I focused on elements of game design, collaborative storytelling, and improv skills. Through MIT’s Edx game design course, I learned nuances of how designers think about gaming. Lastly, I took improv classes at a local theater and developed skills that will have a direct impact on making school more fun for my students.”

Tim continues: “The hidden gem in all of this was the value of taking improv classes. I knew that performing improv was a way to become a better storyteller, but I completely underestimated how impactful it would be on my mindset as a teacher.”

Below, read Tim’s tips on how to replicate an innovative project in your school:

Start small. Don’t feel pressured to overhaul everything. Pick a lesson and start there.
Get comfortable with a “experiment/fail/learn/repeat” mindset. Embrace the iterative process. Finding the good stuff means knowing what doesn’t work.
Be an explorer. There is much delight in discovering the unknown.
Don’t be afraid to ask students for feedback. Find the fun.
Reflect. In writing. Get it down on paper.
Have fun and put yourself out there a little bit. It should feel a little bit scary.
Learn everything you can about improv. It’s changed my world. As a teacher and as a human.

This article is part of the TED-Ed Innovation Project series, which highlights 25+ TED-Ed Innovation Projects designed by educators, for educators, with the support and guidance of the TED-Ed Innovative Educator program. You are welcome to share, duplicate and modify projects under this Creative Commons license to meet the needs of students and teachers. Art credit: Shutterstock.

Share basic skills through videos that teach via gestures

Laura McClure — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 11:00:21 +0000

BIO

Umar Anjum is an Urdu language instructor, a TED Translator, and a TED-Ed Innovative Educator in Pakistan, where he works with the University of California Berkeley’s Study Abroad program. Recently, Umar used his language and education expertise to create new learning opportunities for students in a village in Pakistan. Below, learn more about his TED-Ed Innovative Project: More About Visual.

IDEA

In Pakistan, once you leave the big cities, computers are rarely used in schools to aid learning. Even if multimedia technology is available in a classroom, language can also be a barrier to learning, as the majority of people do not understand English-based educational videos.

INNOVATION PROJECT

More About Visual will help students to overcome language barriers to learning by sharing videos that teach basic skills through gestures rather than words. The hope is that this platform will provide a digital curriculum that can benefit many people. Read more about this inspiring project, here.

Below, read Umar’s tips for introducing new multimedia equipment and education technology:

Introducing a multimedia projector along with a laptop computer can be costly and might require additional equipment, e.g. I had to purchase a stabilizer to deal with electricity voltages.
Some multimedia projectors are heat-sensitive. For example, our projector stopped working because it was too hot.
It is important that you discuss your idea and its benefits with school staff. Questions like how different classes will use just one projector are important.
The teachers must understand that a multimedia projector is an additional help and it is there to help making the learning process fun and interesting. The videos should be shown as an added tool to learning and not as standalone thing, though at times it is good to combine many classes and play something informative like a documentary.
It can be a challenge to find videos that are not language dependent and yet reinforce learning. I have a small collection at More About Visual, but need to add a lot more. A fellow educator gave the idea that maybe children in technology-familiar contexts can produce videos for other children, perhaps via TED-Ed Clubs.

Encourage local students to become global learners

Laura McClure — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 11:00:24 +0000

BIO

Tobye Ertelt was born and raised in Colorado. Today, she lives and works in her home state as a Digital Teacher Librarian. When Tobye’s not teaching students in Colorado, she loves to explore the world; in addition to other countries, she has visited 38 of the 50 United States. As a TED-Ed Innovative Educator, Tobye is passionate about the power of travel to expand the mind — as well as “learning in messy, uncomfortable ways, and showing our students that it is okay to do so.”

IDEA

There is a false perception “that we have two societies: the ‘real world’ and the ‘digital world’,” says Tobye. This perception can be changed by explaining the links between 4 important concepts: ethical behavior, digital conduct, global citizenship, and taking action in the world.

INNOVATION PROJECT

Tobye and her students created TED-Ed lessons to explain the links between these 4 concepts: ethical behavior, digital conduct, global citizenship, and taking action in the world. The lessons are available here:

Part 1: https://ed.ted.com/on/BUpD4wxb
Part 2: https://ed.ted.com/on/lWQuSsjh
Part 3: https://ed.ted.com/on/QkfJJtxP
Part 4: https://ed.ted.com/on/v3Fq17eJ

Below, read Tobye’s tips on how to encourage students to become global learners:

Don’t be afraid to fail or have setbacks. Originally, I wanted to have an 8-10 part lesson series completed. Realizing we needed to learn and taking the time for that was as valuable as the lesson creation. My students are more aware, more conscious and caring than before. We were never able to get our audio to run smoothly in our post production, so we finally decided to redo our first two videos without dialogue. It was more complicated, and we basically started over, but another teachable moment led to something we’re proud of.
Think about the frontloading you will need to do. My students live upper-middle class, sheltered lives. Very few of them have traveled outside of their corner of the world. They have not witnessed some of the poverty, hunger, and neglect that others have. I bought Google Cardboard to help them go on virtual field trips. I also searched for videos that gave them more information on world issues.
Find a project learning network. My TED-Ed Innovative Educator cohort has been a great source of ideas and feedback, and some of my greatest breakthroughs came from talking with them. They helped me refine my ideas, pumped me up when I needed inspiration, and gave me valuable resource ideas.
Remember your school’s calendar. My students were on a roll, but then state testing happened, and we weren’t able to meet for five weeks.
Always be flexible. If current events shift your worldview and the kids want to shift the focus/theme, let them. Events of this summer stunned my students, and they shifted the theme to focus on racism/inequality and how it damages the global community.