How we design 21st century learning environments matters. This is just one of the key messages that Bridgitte Alomes, CEO of Natural Pod and President of Green Schools National Network (GSNN), conveyed in her keynote address at the 8th Canadian EdTech...
On the 11th of November, 2017, 500 children from cities all around the world, worked in parallel to design and develop solutions and innovative concepts around water issues. They worked together to build prototypes and present them to each other via a live connection,...
This coming April, Rethink Thinking is doing it again! Summit at the Bay — Canada’s only inquiry-based youth summit — is set to kick off on April 21 and 22, 2018, at Royal Bay Secondary in School District 62 (Sooke, BC). Picture 500 grades 9–12 students from across...
Our current compulsory schooling model was created at the dawn of the Industrial Age. As factories replaced farm work and production moved swiftly outside of homes and into the larger marketplace, 19th century American schooling mirrored the factories that most...
Redefining Schools of the Future is the theme for this year’s 8th Canadian Edtech Leadership Summit and we’re delighted to announce that our CEO of Natural Pod, Bridgitte Alomes, will be one of the keynotes at the conference this year. It’s never been a more...
If student achievement and staff performance are major aims, indoor environmental quality is an elephant in the room. Consider this. We have invested in intense planning. Our learning goals have been aligned with the growing needs of society in a fast-changing world....
Gone are the days when students were expected to sit passively at desks while teachers lectured endlessly, expecting children to soak up the information being thrown at them. In today’s educational environment, students are expected to collaborate, think critically,...
R.C. Garnett Demonstration Elementary School is a teaching demonstration school, offering professional development for Langley teachers and teacher colleagues, both within and outside the province. Staff work collaboratively and with a common philosophy to examine...
It’s wonderful to see projects that we work on and partners that we work with receive recognition for creating better learning environments. Our recent project at Explorer Academy in West Virginia just received an ‘Outstanding Project’ award from...
Terms every teacher should know – As education continues to evolve, adding in new trends, technologies, standards, and 21st century thinking habits, there is one constant that doesn’t change. The human brain. But neuroscience isn’t exactly accessible to...
When I first started teaching, I thought essay writing was the ideal form of assessment. If students could “write intelligently” about an idea (or the big idea of a certain academic standard), they understood. If they struggled, they probably didn’t—and that struggle...
I took a day out of my busy schedule (everyone has a busy schedule!) to visit two of our customers in North and West Vancouver. Bringing nature into the learning environment, encouraging collaboration and making a focus to clear away the clutter is evident the moment...
We tend to think of project-based learning as focused on research, planning problem-solving, authenticity, and inquiry. Further, collaboration, resourcefulness, and networking matter too–dozens of characteristics “fit” into project-based learning. Its popularity comes...
Teachers mean well. By teachers, I mean you and I. We mean well. After all, here we are, creating and consuming resources to improve the learning of someone, somewhere. And we’re both in education to begin with — that’s a selfless and Sisyphean pursuit in itself. We...
We’ve come to accept that just about the only thing that seems to be constant in this day and age is change. But we sometimes don’t spend enough time thinking about how to manage change. Here are some things to have in mind before undertaking any significant change...
Create or update your better learning environment with our back to school bundle offer. Save over $600 when you order before the end of August, 2017. The best part is once your order is confirmed we can ship and deliver everything direct to you within 10 days. Contact...
There is an irony to bad questions, in that they can be more difficult to answer than a good question. Questioning is the art of learning. Learning to ask important questions is the best evidence of understanding there is, far surpassing the temporary endorphins of a...
In a much celebrated article entitled, Twelve Places to Intervene in a System, Donella Meadows wrote that the power to transcend mindsets or paradigms is the most upstream place to intervene in a system to make positive systemic change. The mindset or...
Even though teachers have the summer off we usually have a hard time switching off our teacher brains. I find myself on my family summer holidays looking around and thinking about whether I can use different natural objects in my classroom. I can’t walk down a...
Thank you to everyone who entered our recent newsletter subscription giveaway. These giveaways are our chance to give back to our community and to help spread the word of our community work building better learning environments. The winner of this contest will receive...
Indoor Air Quality: Why it’s Critical for Healthy Learning Environments + Young Learners
