125 years without a Hockey Mask

VINTAGE HOCKEY GOALIE MASK NHL 8X10 PHOTO

1959 marked the first time a goal tender wore a mask in a professional hockey gamed. Jacques Plante started a trend that now features glossy air-brushed, graphite, high-impact resistant head gear for all hockey players and tenders.

It was revolutionary. Crude. A game-changer. It took 125 years and an unknown number of gashes, accidents, tramautic-brain injuries and career ending blows to the goalie's dome. Why?

Listen, I'm not really here to write about why it took so long for goalies to protect their brain buckets. I'm here to draw an analogy about why it takes us so long to innovate, reform and solve issues in education. So I offer some examples of education's equivalent to the hockey mask. Innovators.

1. Three considerations for disruptive innovation in blended learning formats found at the Christensen Institute. They've been doing this for quite some time. Pay attention.

2. Jeffrey Bradbury, @TeacherCast, is living by the axiom - surround yourself with the best people and guarantee success. Not only is he hosting weekly podcasts with school leaders all across the United States, he implements LiveBinders and has organized a Professional Learning Network (PLN) via Google Groups. Here's where it gets interesting. I've personally watched this expand within my own network by 100 fold over a week's time.

3. Center Creek Institute. Interested in mapping the competencies necessary for teacher development, enhanced virtual learning, and increased levels of comfort? Let's chat.

There you have it hockey fans, teachers, leaders and do-gooders.

Onward!

Dr. J

Comments

1.5 Reasons to Take a Different Path - The Hippy-Cow Way

The Hippy-Cow Way I remember early in my career asking a question something like, "Why don't we try [insert idea here]?" And the quick reply, "Because this is the way we've always done it." Wow. 2020 is teaching us that the way we've always done things..does not work. Yeah. The age-old rut that can trap us all. Frustrating isn't it? As a child growing up in the Aspen Valley, I remember traveling many miles along Highway 82. Glenwood to Carbondale, then to Basalt, and on to Aspen. Two lanes most of the way, it was and is the main route connecting all of these Rocky Mountain towns. The drive can be breath-taking in the Fall. And most take this route because, well, it's the route we always take. It's familiar. Safe. Known. Well traveled. You get the idea. There are other ways to get where you're going. Roads less traveled that hold great sites and great reward. One of my favorites is the Hippy-Cow Way. Known only to our fam...

What I've Learned from Trees

I grew up in the Rocky Mountains, and now reside there as a middle-aged man. God's country. My family has lived here for six generations, founded to towns, owned gold and silver claims, timber, farmed and ranched here. My father was killed and is buried here. All around me are these beautiful and majestic trees. For a time, my business was trees. Well, commercial landscaping. Purchasing, planting, cultivating, trimming, and growing trees. I can look at a tree and tell you if it is healthy, I can tell how it's been cared for, and when/where it should be trimmed. Over the course of my life I've learned a few things about these beautiful creations. Aspen trees are known for their breathtaking Fall colors. But did you know that they are the world's largest living organism? Their root systems are connected and when one member of a grove is sick, the others support it with nutrients. Because Aspens are a united grove, they aren't as susceptible to disease and insects ...

Big Brother and Virtual Learning - Solutions

Dear reader, here's a report of a child who is suspended for a toy he has in his own home. The so-called teacher, in a millennial activist fugue, spotted the dangerous weapon and used common sense to alert the parents, have a discussion with them, and then realized she should mind her own business. District administration immediately knew nothing and also were able to mind their own business, getting back to the bloat and lack of necessity they now find in their jobs, sending a multiplicity of boring emails and eating carbs. Except, no . That didn't happen. Here's what really happened. Police were called. They conducted a wellness check without parental consent. The elementary school child is suspended. He is a Black student. Why do I mention this, because...it matters. District fascists stand by their decision. Parental rights, private property rights, 2nd Amendment Rights, and the right to own whatever toy I want...eroding. Listen up! Keeping cameras off preserve...

Principles of Principals

Search This Blog