Welcome to thinkchat. My name is Lu and I am passionate about changing the way we think about education and how to make it more learner-driven. Whether you’re a teacher beginning to release control, a school leader reimagining what a truly responsive learning culture can be, or a parent curious about how to nurture your child’s sense of agency, this space is for you.
thinkchat is a place where learning is seen as a shared journey that is collaborative, joyful, and deeply human. Together, we’ll explore new ways of thinking, connecting, and creating that puts the learner in the center of curriclum design.
In this space, we’re not just rethinking what learning can be, we’re practicing what it should be. For too long, education has clung to an outdated model of drilling facts, memorizing content, and preparing learners for a future that no longer exists. While the world outside has transformed through AI, automation, and global connection, our classrooms often still reflect the priorities of the industrial age.
It is time to reimagine what education can look like now. To take the frameworks, strategies, and insights we already have and organize them in ways that better serve today’s learners. This might mean letting go of old patterns and opening ourselves to new ways of thinking and doing.
This site was created to support that shift. It is built around four big ideas: connection, authenticity, responsiveness, and exploration. Each one invites you to reflect more deeply on what learning can look like and how it supports learner development.
Within each big idea, you will find topics that bring curriculum design and deep understanding into sharper focus. Some of them may stretch your thinking, while others may challenge your beliefs completely. This is what happens when we step beyond what is familiar and create space for possibility.
At the heart of it all is a simple goal: to help you see learning through a wider lens. Each idea follows a clear three-part structure to scaffold your experience. Since we all learn in different ways, there are a variety of materials to shape your experience from blog posts, guides, and podcast episodes to name a few. It's time for you to explore, which resources will help you and your learners to make your own meaning.
Now it’s time to decide where your journey will begin. You have four possible choices: connection, authenticity, responsiveness, or exploration. Each one holds equal value in shaping a more comprehensive learning journey, but you have to find your starting point. It's going to be different for each person, which is why you have some choice.
In this space, we’re not just rethinking what learning can be, we’re practicing what it should be. For too long, education has clung to an outdated model of drilling facts, memorizing content, and preparing learners for a future that no longer exists. While the world outside has transformed through AI, automation, and global connection, our classrooms often still reflect the priorities of the industrial age.
It is time to reimagine what education can look like now. To take the frameworks, strategies, and insights we already have and organize them in ways that better serve today’s learners. This might mean letting go of old patterns and opening ourselves to new ways of thinking and doing.
This site was created to support that shift. It is built around four big ideas: connection, authenticity, responsiveness, and exploration. Each one invites you to reflect more deeply on what learning can look like and how it supports learner development.
Within each big idea, you will find topics that bring curriculum design and deep understanding into sharper focus. Some of them may stretch your thinking, while others may challenge your beliefs completely. This is what happens when we step beyond what is familiar and create space for possibility.
At the heart of it all is a simple goal: to help you see learning through a wider lens. Each idea follows a clear three-part structure to scaffold your experience. Since we all learn in different ways, there are a variety of materials to shape your experience from blog posts, guides, and podcast episodes to name a few. It's time for you to explore, which resources will help you and your learners to make your own meaning.
Now it’s time to decide where your journey will begin. You have four possible choices: connection, authenticity, responsiveness, or exploration. Each one holds equal value in shaping a more comprehensive learning journey, but you have to find your starting point. It's going to be different for each person, which is why you have some choice.
Purpose
|
The word that has guided my work this year is intentional. After a meaningful conversation with a friend, I found myself asking, how intentional is this space really? If I’m honest, it felt more like a collection of ideas than a connected experience. That reflection led me to rethink not just the design of this site, but what it means to model meaningful learning in practice.
To bring that vision to life, I reorganized everything around the four big ideas. These ideas give structure and clarity to the deeper purpose we’re working toward: creating more intentional learning experiences in our classrooms. It takes time, reflection, and sustained effort. While it won’t always be easy, one thing I can say with confidence is this, you’ll begin to see your learners grow, not only as students but as people. |
After watching the video, I hope you better understand the thinking behind this shift. At the heart of it, I want to support you, so that your learners can thrive. They need us to be more thoughtful and responsive than ever before.
We’re stepping into a future that’s hard to predict. What’s ahead will be unlike anything we’ve experienced. That’s why we need to approach our classrooms with new eyes. Uncertainty can bring discomfort, but it also invites inspiration, curiosity, and innovation. This is exactly where learning begins.
We’re stepping into a future that’s hard to predict. What’s ahead will be unlike anything we’ve experienced. That’s why we need to approach our classrooms with new eyes. Uncertainty can bring discomfort, but it also invites inspiration, curiosity, and innovation. This is exactly where learning begins.
The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food. Dean Ornish
|
The work we are about to step into is not easy. It takes a willingness to unlearn some things and asks us to reimagine learning in a way that honors both who our learners are and who they are becoming. I have found that I do this work best when I am surrounded by like-minded people. My hope is that thinkchat becomes a space where we can be bold and take risks. I'm not a person who likes newsletters. I tend to delete them insantly, unless they come from Misty Paterson. What I really crave is connection. I want to be in conversation with others who are thinking, wondering, and experimenting too. I want to feel the spark of real dialogue, not just scroll through more information. If this sounds like you too, I will add to to our members only page where authentic collaboration can begin. |
|
Let us take time to think deeply, chat openly, and create meaningful change together. This is what it means to thinkchat. Think. chat. create. It's that simple.