by Ari Yares | Aug 2, 2016 | Writings
The other day, the following quote was posted in a Facebook group on innovation that I participate in. “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door” – Coco Chanel, founder of Chanel. My first response was snarky – this is why I...
by Ari Yares | Jul 18, 2016 | 21st Century Learning, The Innovative Dad Blog
Like most people, I haven’t really ever thought of myself as a maker. I’ve been watching as schools and libraries have introduced makerspaces and I’ve encouraged the creation of them and students to get involved in them. But, I never really thought...
by Ari Yares | Jul 12, 2016 | 21st Century Learning, School Psychology, Writings
As a kid, I was always impressed by the list of initials that appeared on the video games at the arcade announcing the high scores (I didn’t at the time realize how many quarters had gone into making that happen). There is something exciting about reaching a...
by Ari Yares | Jun 20, 2016 | Design Thinking, Writings
I have been wondering for a while why I am fascinated with design. Some of it, I’m sure, I picked up while my wife was earning two degrees in communication design, but the fascination didn’t really hit full steam until well after she had finished. What was...
by Ari Yares | Jun 15, 2016 | The Innovative Dad Blog
So the other night, I accidentally left my cell phone in my toddler’s room and he found it. When I retraced my steps to find the phone, he was lying on the floor trying to swipe away on it, just like mommy and daddy. No, he didn’t figure out how to unlock...
by Ari Yares | Jun 6, 2016 | Writings
I recently got a text from a colleague with several emoji in it. At the best of times, text messages can be a little complicated to interpret because of their brevity. In fact, earlier that week, that same colleague had texted me back in response to a text about...
by Ari Yares | Jun 1, 2016 | 21st Century Learning, School Psychology
Recently, there was a lot of buzz around an NPR story with the eye catching headline, “Attention Students, Put Your Laptops Away.” The research covered in the story boiled down to handwriting good, typing bad when it came to students’ recall and...
by Ari Yares | May 9, 2016 | School Leadership, School Psychology
The conversation with my wife went something like this: “What are you doing?” “Teaching myself Spanish.” “Seriously?” I don’t think that she was surprised that I wanted to learn Spanish; we’re both very committed to the...
by Ari Yares | Apr 26, 2016 | Design Thinking, Writings
I had some routine blood work done the other day and it just wasn’t fun. Now I wasn’t expecting Disney World, but there was nothing in the experience that made me think of myself as anything other than a human pin cushion. The room was sterile, the chair...
by Ari Yares | Apr 17, 2016 | 21st Century Learning, School Psychology
In our kitchen at home, my oldest has started cooking which means teaching her how to measure her ingredients. Generally, this is an easy process because we know what the ingredients are and the kitchen is stocked with a collection of useful measuring tools. It also...
