learning what matters
WElcome and OVERVIEW
Welcome to the Learning What Matters workshop resources site. This site is used by Building 21 to facilitate workshops for folks inside and outside the Building 21 Network of schools. Please bookmark this site because it is filled with resources about competency-based education and Building 21's learning model.
Opening Prompt
Morning: Think back to your k12 (or equivalent) experience. What is one specific learning experience you had that had a positive impact on you? What is memorable to you to this day?
Afternoon: If you were the benevolent dictator of all k12 education, what progress would you track, measure, and communicate to students and how would you do it?
All resources and activities can be found on this site. This is a public site that will stay accessible if you need any links after the workshop. To get to this site, navigate to lwm.building21.org.
Your facilitator today is Thomas Gaffey. His unofficial title is Chief of Clever Work-arounds at Building 21.
Thomas joined Building 21 after seven years as a 9th grade math teacher at Philadelphia’s School of the Future (SOF) where he utilized problem-based and technology-driven learning approaches to support students in tackling real-world problems. Thomas was also the Director of Educational Technology at SOF managing their one-to-one laptop program. As a Microsoft Innovative Educator master trainer and founder of What If Partners, LLC., Thomas has led professional development for teachers and school districts nationally. As the Chief Instructional Technologist and Building 21, Thomas co-created the Learning What Matters (LWM) Competency Framework and the Building 21 instructional model, developed a Google Apps-based prototyping system for data dashboards, and designed a competency-based LMS within the open source platform, Slate. He is now leading an expansion effort to help districts across the country use the Learning What Matters (LWM) competency framework to personalize education for students.