Engage 2026
In 2014 when I was promoted to Director of Innovation & Strategy, the development of our school division’s strategic plan became a new responsibility. I still had the role after those six years were up, and I led the effort to develop…
John Hendron
Continue reading Engage 2026
The Supt’s Memos
This one includes a bit of back-story. The First Revision The Virginia Department of Education puts out regular correspondence from the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the form of “Supt’s Memos.” Districts across Virginia read these each week for directives from the…
The Learning Commons
While I was Director of Innovation & Strategy for Goochland County Public Schools, I oversaw a re-make of the high school’s media center. The school had been built in 2001 and that year I taught two of my advanced classes while transitioning…
Magazine Covers
In 2025 our organization downsized and with a new editor-in-chief, I was on hand to provide graphics support for our organization’s magazine, Kappan. We outsourced the design of the magazine to match our former in-house style, but I was needed to produce…
The future (of schools?), can you imagine?
A version of this article will appear in the Fall 2026 edition of Kappan. When one ponders the future of education, it’s apt, perhaps, to consider the future of schooling. We’ve taken for granted that schools exist. I’m guessing you attended a…
Working with Macs
Looking through my photo collection (2001, onward) I noticed I took quite a few pictures of computers and technology. I do think a lot of my career trajectory was defined by me coming to Virginia and making the choice to work in…
Gamification at Educators Rising – June 2026
I’m pleased to be a presenter at the 2026 Educators Rising National Conference in Portland. I’m leading a breakout session on gamification and using the psychology of game design in instruction. I hope to have both teacher leaders and students in my…
Strategic Innovation Grants Presentation
This was a description of the program we’d cultivated in Goochland County with the Goochland Education Foundation to support deeper learning with 21st century skills by providing a local grant program to support project-based learning at the 2019 Virginia School Boards Association…
Boston (2001)
I’ve had a few experiences with Boston. In the summer of 1999, I traveled there for a job interview as a high school orchestra teacher. Before that I’d been to visit a friend who was studying at Harvard and MIT. It’s why…
The Four Phases of a Game
Games, according to Chou (2019), typically have four phases. Think of these as phases the player experiences as they play the game. So, I’ve been watching Season 3 of Squid Game on Netflix. I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s…