Innovate Inside the Box: Empowering Learners Through UDL and the Innovator's Mindset

I knew before hand that this was going to be a great book for my journey as an educator. So often in schools today, we tend to get caught up in the rules, regulations, and procedures of the day to day. This wonderful piece outlines how we can use the constraints in front of us as inspiration to innovate regardless of barriers we face. I love how the authors connected the concepts of the Innovator's Mindset to the Universal Design for Learning. Both embrace the importance of the art of "how" and "why" in education. There is so much noise in education today and most of it revolves around tons of money and superficial programs. Innovate Inside the Box gives you uplifting practical tools you need to truly have an impact on student and teacher learning. This is a great read! Buy two and share with a friend!

This book is filled with a ton of great ideas and strategies that can be taken and implemented immediately. The best part of them is that, unlike some books, it can be done within the existing framework of your school or district. It doesn't require a wholesale change in what you do. The ideas are intentionally meant to work within the scope of what you may already be doing. George Couros and Katie Novak have crafted a phenomenal book that can be used as a resource when you are done reading it. Another one of the books I will keep close as a resource for future reference. Thanks, George Couros and Katie Novak!!!

Want to help your students become everything they can be? ALL of them (not just the ones who will learn despite you??) You need this book. A fabulous pairing of The Innovator's Mindset and Universal Design for Learning, this book helps you see the why (George Corous) and the how (Katie Novak) in chapters that go systematically through all the elements of an innovators mindset and how to create and implement pathways for all students. They're even doing a book study beginning Sept 15. Get this book, check out the website, sign up for the book study and learn along with a bunch of us. And yes, that is my and the book in Redwood Canyon at Sequoia National Park yesterday. I spend my labor day hiking and reading!

The book is very helpful to me sp0ecially when I was preparing for a lecture on Innovation.

Innovate Inside the Box reminds me WHY I wanted to be a teacher and also nudges me to do better. This book is filled with practical strategies, stories from the field, and common sense content that makes it a fun and easy read. If teachers are going to pick up any new book this school year, this is it. It's hard to find books that warm your soul, touch your heart, AND leave you with methods you can take right back into the classroom. Somehow, George Couros and Katie Novak found a way to write a book that is both grounded in research AND a joy to read.Sometimes, we make things seem harder and more complicated than they have to be. This book makes what felt impossible before seem possible now. Hands down, this is the best book I've read in a long time.

Our current constraints may be different, but our priorities remain the same. Now more than ever, we need to “innovate inside the box”.Packed with inspiration as well as explicit strategies, the authors masterfully weave the core of innovative teaching and learning with the characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset through practical, universally-designed examples. My copy is covered in post-it flags with notes and so much underlined!Regardless of your role in education, you will walk away with fresh ideas and a new lens for designing learning that is focused on relationships, learner-centered, evidence-informed, and empowering.All educators should read this book. I give it my highest recommendation!

I couldn't wait for this book to arrive. Now in my 36th year as an educator, George's first book, The Innovator's Mindset, absolutely rocked my world. He put into words what many of us had been thinking and living. This second book, working with Katie Novak, amplifies and crystalizes his earlier ideas. I'm reading this book more slowly, as I'm literally finding people on twitter to follow, once he mentions them in the book. I learned about how to use twitter as a professional from George Couros. I've developed a professional learning network because of his work. If you are an educator and need a jolt in your career or learning, do yourself a favor. It's the real deal.

As an avid reader of every book I can get my hands on, this is one of the most practical books I have read. Educators can immediately implement many ideas shared by George and Katie. Part one takes us through core elements of innovative teaching and learning. I underlined and earmarked so many pages in this section. Part two of the book gets even better. This is where George and Katie bring together their genius. Here, they focus on the 8 characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset then provide strategies on how to implement each of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines for each of the 8 characteristics. The authors value and acknowledge the difficult challenges faced by educators and seek to empower them through this book.