HomeCategory Portfolio School

Category: Portfolio School

Episode 013 – Portfolio School Interview with Dr. Shira Leibowitz, Nancy Otero and Lucas

Lynn Fuini-Hetten and Randy Ziegenfuss

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

We’re back at Portfolio School this episode, having a conversation with Dr. Shira Leibowitz, Founding Lower School Director; Nancy Otero, Founding Director of Project Based Learning; and Lucas, a learner at Portfolio School.

Dr. Leibowitz  has led independent schools in the greater New York City area for 20 years prior to joining Portfolio, serving as Department Head and Curriculum Coordinator, Lower School Principal, and Head of School. A recognized leader in project-based learning, educational innovation, and instructional coaching, Shira has coached teachers throughout the country in implementing project-based learning in their classrooms and has led online communities of practice for educators focused on educational innovation, teaching and learning, and instructional coaching. Shira’s book The Coach Approach to School Leadership: Leading Teachers to Higher Levels of Effectiveness, was recently published by ASCD.

Nancy Otero is the Founding Director of Project Based Learning. She is a design-thinking enthusiast and a world-recognized leader in the implementation of school Fabrication Laboratories (“Fab-Labs”). The focus of her work, especially with the Transformative Learning Technology Lab at Stanford University, has been the ways in which digital fabrication impacts learning. Nancy co-founded FAB!, a non-profit in Mexico, which serves underserved high-schoolers and teachers, and she has researched the efficacy of her programs in collaboration with Stanford. This year, Stanford is supporting Fab Lab implementations in five public high schools in Guadalajara, and looking to implement 50 more next year.

Lucas is a learner at Portfolio School. Lucas is 9 and he is a pioneering learning at the Portfolio School.

As a result of speaking with these leaders and learners, we are thinking about these questions:

  1. As a leader, how do you build in reflection time to assess progress toward your vision and define next steps?
  2. How can project-based learning support your vision for learning?

Resources:

Episode 012 – Portfolio School Interview with Babur Habib

Lynn Fuini-Hetten and Randy Ziegenfuss

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Episode 12 takes us to New York City, Portfolio School and Co-Founder/CEO, Babur Habib. Babur is a tech entrepreneur who co-founded Kno Inc, an ed-tech company which set out to reimagine how students consume content. The company was acquired by Intel Corporation where Babur spent time implementing technology solutions in classrooms globally. His previous experience includes designing Pentium microprocessors at Intel and digital consumer products at Philips.

He’s served as a fellow at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, working on the role of science and technology in informing public policy. He’s currently an advisor to multiple tech startups and is passionate about building a solid tech ecosystem on the east coast. In addition, he serves as an advisor to the New York Academy of Sciences on their Global STEM Alliance project and is an expert in residence at the NY Media Center. He has a 2 year old daughter who provides him the daily motivation to build a school from scratch. Babur holds an MS from Stanford in electrical engineering and a PhD from Princeton in quantum computing.

Portfolio School’s mission is to create the next generations of innovators, problem-solvers and life-long learners. The world-class team of educators, entrepreneurs and technologists are building a network of small, private K-12 schools that will help children succeed in the world of 2030 and beyond.

Our conversation with Babur inspired us to generate these questions:

  1. Are you on the path to transformation? What aspects of the traditional model of learning will you let go of and what new beliefs will you and your team embrace?
  2. How will you engage learners to also be leaders?

Resources: