Everyone—from our staff to our learners to our parents—has been so open-minded about what learning looks like during this moment. It’s made everyone feel like this isn’t all that bad.…

Changing lives through the power of learning
Everyone—from our staff to our learners to our parents—has been so open-minded about what learning looks like during this moment. It’s made everyone feel like this isn’t all that bad.…
Research indicates that having a sense of purpose is positively correlated to one’s mental and emotional well-being. It generates the feeling that individuals can contribute to something larger than themselves by integrating their gifts, passions and values into whatever they choose to pursue.
Aidyn Grice is a 6th-grade doing 9th-grade math and is a student at Norris Academy in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. I met Aidyn and his mom, Nicole, at the Aurora Institute (past was iNACOL) conference in October 2019 in Palm Springs where Aidyn who was an amazing speaker on the student panel. After talking to Aidyn, his mom, and Johnna Noll, Executive Director of Norris Academy, we decided it was time for a conversation with Aidyn on my podcast.
Whatever community you are in, you are bound to find something parallel and worth digging into.
Learner-centered is a mindset, not a model. There is no designation—public, private, charter, or independent—a learning environment can bear that necessarily means they are operating with this mindset. If their work fits the distinction of what it means to operate within the learner-centered paradigm, we pin them to our map and explore opportunities to write profiles, conduct interviews, amplify the voices of their learners, and more.