What we all can learn from Caine's Arcade

I saw a video today that just went viral. WARNING:  Inspiration will follow!

Okay, I cried!  Did you?

How often as teachers do we miss out on this opportunity because we have to meet the next objective or plan the next activity.  How often to we miss out on opportunities to change the lives of students?  How often do we not seek to inspire?

Seth Godin's amazing FREE ebook "Stop Stealing Dreams" asks us as educators to imagine a world we we can capitalize on students interests and passions and eliminate destroying them.

Dan Pink's book Drive and TED talk on motivation inspires us as teachers to create opportunities for students to increase the autonomy they have inside the walls of our school day.

I have been wrestling with personalized learning in my classroom.  I've been doing 20% time all year.

This video confirms that what I've been working on, When we as educators focus on the individual student.  When we are able AND WILLING to capitalize on the passion and interest of a student we can find our goals and objectives, we can find our curriculum, we can find more than just test answers but life-long skills.  The key to student learning is truly personalization.

I'm happy and excited for Caine, I'm more excited for my teachers and students that I can share this story with, maybe we can help create more opportunities for imagination, innovation, and creativity in our days ahead.