Soft Technology

Have you seen Huntsville ISD's latest Innovation Day video? It's pretty awesome! We think you'll get a lot of good advice about what Innovation Day is, how to do it, and why you should give it a try as well. Please check it out!

Today we held our first Innovation Day in Huntsville ISD. I figured it was going to be pretty cool, but I had no idea how cool. In the first 10 minutes I was on the campus of Samuel Walker Houston Elementary I watched a student dredge chicken for frying, saw 5 girls sewing clothing, helped three boys create a new website, and heard students everywhere talking excitedly about their self-created projects. It was AMAZING. During free-write time yesterday, Mrs. Jessica Moore's student Jenna wrote the piece below completely unprompted. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. Enjoy! Links about Innovation Day: Stump The Teacher: Innovation Day Larry Ferlazzo's Best Resources for Innovation Day Good.is Why Every School Needs Innovation Day Huntsville ISD Innovation Day Planning and Materials Cultivating Innovation on a K-4 Campus, Guest Post by Jessica Powell

https://twitter.com/itechjess JESSICA POWELL ,  @iTechjess Instructional Technologist and Staff Development Professional. VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE On March 22, 2013 something amazing is going to happen: 600 elementary students are going to take over their school and their teachers aren't going to do ANYTHING about it.  You read that right. That day,  Innovation Day , the students at Samuel Houston Elementary are going to "drive the bus" and their teachers are just going to make sure they keep it between the lines.  If you're not familiar with  Innovation Day  (also known as  FedEx Day  or Genius Day), you're missing out on one of the newer trends hitting education right now.  The concept that we've killed creativity in our young students has never gotten more coverage than it's receiving today, thanks to state and national debates about standardized testing. The basic idea is this: ask students what they WANT to learn and then........LET THEM...