Category: Reform and Re-imagining of Education

Jesse Hagopian’s Lesson Plan for Liberation

I don’t usually do this, but I love what this guy is doing, so I’m gonna tell you about it! If you’re a parent or teacher, you should sign up for Jesse’s blog. I’ve been following Jesse for a long time. He posts blogs every once in a while when he has a strong opinion about a current event in education. I love his passion and wanted to share his work with you so you can learn from him! I do not know Jesse and he does not know I’m posting this on my blog. I’m doing this purely because I appreciate the way he contributes to helping our kids. Here’s a bit more about Jesse: Jesse Hagopian teaches Ethnic Studies and is the co-adviser to the Black Student Union at Garfield High School–the site of the historic boycott of the MAP test in 2013.  Jesse is an editor for the social justice periodical Rethinking Schools is the co-editor for the forthcoming book, Teaching for Black Lives, and is the editor of the book, More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing. He is founding member of Social Equity Educators (SEE), a recipient of the 2012 Abe Keller Foundation award for “excellence and innovation in peace education,” and won the 2013 “Secondary School Teacher of the Year” award and the Special Achievement “Courageous Leadership” award from the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences.  In 2015, Jesse received the Seattle/King County NAACP Service Award, was named as an Education Fellow to The Progressive magazine, as well as a “Cultural Freedom Fellow” for the Lannan Foundation for his nationally recognized work in promoting critical thinking and opposing high-stakes testing. Thanks for how you show up Jesse. Very best, Seth Click below to share this

Teachers: Feeling alone? (Video)

Please CLICK above to share. Here’s another vlog for teachers, based on an email I received form a High School Special Education Teacher named Cynthia. Sometimes it’s isolating when you’re an outside-the-box teacher with alternative views. It can feel unsupportive. Sometimes it’s lonely when you want to use non-traditional or unconventional methods of teaching and reaching kids. This video explores these issues and offers insights, including how to do a temp check with students to reaffirm that you’re on the right track. Thank you, teachers, for every bit of time, energy, care, and concern you give our students. We need you! Here’s to a great school year — Seth Teachers, we need you
Love my work and want to give? Click here! To support me, please CLICK at the bottom to share. Click here to visit my official YouTube Channel & subscribe if you want! Thank you — Seth
Reading the transcript? Great! We’re currently uploading hundreds of transcripts so you can read them asap, but they are NOT all edited yet. This is a big process. If you notice anything wrong and want to help us, feel free to click this Google Form to share it. Thanks so much for pitching in! – Seth

Video transcript:

Hey, what’s up? Everybody? This is tough. Fro.com. I hope you are having a great day coming to from another pintastic wall in Santa Monica. This is a email from Cynthia Cynthia said I am a special education teacher. I’m excited to have your resources to backup my suggestion for helping my high school students address their organization. Cynthia need me to help back up her idea because oftentimes when teachers are doing non-traditional approaches, they are not getting the support or acceptance that they need because oftentimes schools are very in the box and they often times have a lot of Staff who are we’re not pushing the needle we’re not doing things differently so they can often feel different. So anyhow, she think she appreciate that this helps it back up. As you know, traditional approaches. Don’t work for some students. Obviously, that’s why I do what I do. I wouldn’t be in. I wish I didn’t have a job because schools would have got these need but I am in business because traditional approaches don’t work for some students and I’m left alone when advocating for a different approach. So she feels lonely as a teacher when she’s trying to say. Hey, let’s do this. This isn’t working for the kids. Let’s try something different. I relate to that because I went through that a lot your resources will give me an ally in another source of evidence to support my students. My biggest challenge is working alone with little time and resources to support my awesome out-of-the-box Learners parents administrators and even students have often given up by the time they reach me in high school those who have not given up often resist efforts to try something different because often they’re very Jaded by that point. They’re very exhausted. They’ve been through the game so much that they know that they get beaten down. They put all this effort in nobody notices that we’re not enough people notice it and they really notice schools and teachers. Administrators really notice the things that aren’t going right in there so much focus on that these kids really they were often do resistant give up and they’re they’re very beaten down by the time by High School by the time thanks for your support. She says that she says that her biggest challenge is working alone. How do you overcome that feeling well, I think it’s very challenging. I went through the same thing and I think that has a teacher one of the most important things you need to do is listen to your gut. You are the professional. Of course, the the the career of the teaching career has been D professionalize you are not treated like a professional or you’re just not valued for being a human being people don’t understand that they don’t like you open the box and put you in a closet overnight open the box in the morning you pop out in your teacher that you actually go home and you have a life and you have a family and you take your work home with you at night on weekends that you’re working your butt off during the summer and over break through your student on people don’t see that and people often think of a teacher as they use the word d professionalized. They’re not seeing you then. They have no idea how much talent teachers have administrators parents even other teachers a even yourself lot of teachers. Don’t understand how awesome they are. So part of my advice is really listen to your gut and you are the professional, you know, your kids, you know your students. Okay, you know them differently than the parents do but you know them and you haven’t had the experience in the hours in the passion you do the research about kids about the brain and everything, you know what they need. So trust your gut if you have a hint that something will work for a kid. Try it out and do it anyway and it if it’s feeling lonely, I guess, you know get on Facebook group for Renegade teachers. I interact with me on my blog start your own blog start your own meet up some meetup.com get to know maybe you can get to know a core little group of people who are other disruptors who who you can really connect with. I’m not in a complaining way. I’m not talking about that like the complaint that you here in the teachers lounge or everybody is just whining I’m talking about like people who you’re having real dialogue with that healing for you and that’s positive in that Saloon. Turn based in focused on helping you support each others to do what you’re doing. We need you call Trini juice Society need you. We need you teacher so bad so bad and it’s often hard for outside the box teachers to to feel a sense of belonging even in your own School situation, but finding those few poor people in again, not in the complaining way, but in a supportive way, I’m connecting with people that can help you to feel less alone. That’s part of what you want to do. So I guess my advice is listen to your gut and try to find some other like-minded people that you can really connect with teaching is hard. You have a lot of paperwork to do a lot of time and energy a lot of emotional in the energy that suspended in it and these kids need you. So I guess my last piece of advice would be to ask Your kids your students what they need. So so here is a really cool tip that I use with a lot of student. So it’s called the temperature check. So I’ll talk to a student and I’ll say hey, what’s up? What’s your temperature with Miss Smith? What’s your temperature with math today? What’s your temperature with organization? What’s your temperature with your locker? What’s your temperature with with your social life with your friends and stuff and then they give an answer 1 through 10 so that they they say seven I say pull your social life is a 7y some follow-up is always why and then they say blah blah blah nice a cool and depending on what they say. I say then say what would make it an 8? So what would make your social life go from a 7 to an eight? It’s very manageable when they think from point to point where I say, you know if their organization is a v I might they will what would make it a sexy, you know, if I say, how is your day and they say it’s a one I might say what would make it to these sort of open-ended questions. Give me a lot of feedback with what I can do for the student. And then you’re sort of even though you’re not getting maybe support from other teachers administrators and people who don’t really get what you’re doing. You’re at least getting clear from The Source exactly what they really do need and you can refer them to us. Yeah. I’m on the right track. This is what this kid needs. It may not fit in the box of the system. It may not fit into what you know, the data that the system is asking me to collect and all the the red tape that the system is asked me to do in all the Hoops. I’m being asked to jump through the teacher but I know that I’m doing what is right for this kid in their future and I can rest tonight knowing that I’m doing that even though I’m getting pushed back or not getting congruence with other people in the system. So you got to remember that the system is old it’s outdated and this system or a business and their investors invest in the business and the result was supposed to be having a great future investors will not invest in it because the results are often not working kids are not ready to launch After High School in the fact that kids are not ready to launch means that education is not working at the whole point of edge. Stop get the laundry great future. So they need those tools we ever launched but we are so myopic and we’re so stuck in our ways and they’re they’re people who obviously are profiting off of Education testing companies textbook companies. These are big big big big big big business for example piercings in a billion dollar company. That’s one testing company. They don’t want you to want the status quo 2 Chainz. They don’t want you rocking the boat. They want people who are complaining or not going to question you were going to do the things that they’re told the way they’re told that your job is to serve kids not the de who deserve Pearson or other companies like this. So it’s definitely challenging for teachers to figure out how to navigate this whole world. Anyhow, I hope that helps you I appreciate you I appreciate teachers. We need you so bad. Please keep doing what you’re doing. Please keep your finding your gifts and your talents in your skills and your professionalism and your heart because teaching is in Art is not a sign that is not regurgitation of curriculum that’s been written by somebody somewhere that you never even meet. It is an art you are the artist you get to design curriculum to serve your students in design learning experience. That’s that’s going to serve them. So good luck to you and thank you for doing what you do. Take care.

Teaching Ain’t Rocket Science (Part 1)

The man behind the curtain
The man behind the curtain

Teaching is an art. 

But it’s an absolutely tremendous and an astonishingly beautiful art. You see, an artist has spent years committed to developing their extraordinary talents and skills. The great teacher is secretly driven by a simple love of community and belief in humanity. She completely pours her heart into the craft. But most people don’t notice this nuance, and that’s ok. What’s not ok is that tragically, the art of teaching has been bastardized, which has the effect of shortchanging our kids! Meanwhile, a few corporate giants are getting richer and richer behind the scenes at the expense of our children, as they fall further and further behind. We complicate teaching by perpetuating myths of how education should be done. But we don’t even see the machine that drives our dependence on broken testing practices, boring textbooks, mind-numbing curriculum, and corrupt & unqualified decision makers.

But what about the “artist teacher”? What is her intention? 

A great teacher uses her art to do one thing – intentionally craft meaningful and powerful learning experiences for her students. (Unfortunately, our system doesn’t support our teachers to do this. Instead, it tells teachers what to teach and how to teach it. Consequently, students are taught what to learn, but not how to learn.)

Why does this artist craft these experiences? 

So her students can learn to craft their own future, one which is aligned with their personal strengths, interests, values, gifts, talents and needs. So they can live with integrity, authenticity, confidence and self-esteem. So they can grow up to do work that matters to them, that contributes to their communities, that harnesses their strengths effectively. And most importantly, yet often overlooked, the artist crafts learning experiences so our children can grow up to have rich, meaningful, healthy relationships with family and friends. That’s what it’s really all about- it’s about people.

Yet…

We continue to muddy the waters with crazy testing, lame textbooks, boring curriculum, unqualified decision makers. And we are blind to it. No, teaching isn’t rocket science. We don’t need the invisible powers that be to tell teachers how to meet the needs of their students and to scrutinize their every move with data, data, data. We are dealing with human beings here, not numbers. If we truly support and empower teachers as professional artists, and help them build upon their strengths in order to better serve their students, we’ll do a much better job of empowering our kids to craft better futures.  Isn’t that the point? How do we change it?
Please SHARE. Or comment below with your thoughts! Thanks!  

How students can avoid “Guru Syndrome”

Please CLICK above to share. We all want answers, and we want them now! So it’s tempting to take advice from an expert, authority or professional when it sounds good. These “gurus” can be very convincing and their advice may work well for many people. But our kids are often very complex and they often need outside-the-box answers. This video sheds some light on this issue. Gurus come in many forms: teachers, administrators, therapists, tutoring centers, educational products, books, articles, videos, etc.. They usually mean well and have a great deal of experience with the given challenge. But one size doesn’t fit all. In my practice, I help students personalize reliable systems to match their idiosyncrasies because that is what gets long term results. No, it’s not easy and it’s not quick, and I’d be skeptical of anything that claims to be. Real solutions take time, energy and persistence. Beware of snake oil Side note: fyi, I use the word guru metaphorically and humorously; not to be offensive. I actually have a great deal or respect for real gurus of all types who have dedicated themselves to serving others.
Love my work and want to give? Click here! To support me, please CLICK at the bottom to share. Click here to visit my official YouTube Channel & subscribe if you want! Thank you -Seth
Reading the transcript? Great! We’re currently uploading hundreds of transcripts so you can read them asap, but they are NOT all edited yet. This is a big process. If you notice anything wrong and want to help us, feel free to click this Google Form to share it. Thanks so much for pitching in! – Seth

Video transcript:

Hello, everyone, except except for ODOT cam. I’m here today to talk to you about Guru syndrome. You do not want to get Guru syndrome is very dangerous and romance and how to avoid a face syndrome is something that I see a lot of parents and a lot of kids fall into and that is this belief that they’ve been told by some Guru by some expert buy some professional buy some Authority that there is a way to do something in that that’s the way that your kid has to do it this way. Well, if you’re the student, I don’t give your middle school high school or college or parent or teacher want you to really Beware of the syndrome. Now, sometimes a guru or authority will tell you something that works perfectly for you. I say if that happens I’ll get back to you. The productivity industry and Technology. They’re all tired tography, whatever. They’re all types of various Wheels where you will see somebody who says I have a system use my system and everything will be okay and for a lot of people the system may work for the kids that I work with which is probably similar to you who tend to have issues with with cut executive function and a startling pool with organization time management priorities getting things turned in on time all all those things. These this is often don’t work. So I want you to be cautious whenever some Guru tells you this is the way I’m even his ass teacher saying this is the way you need to use the planner or even if it or even if it’s the in administrator or if you’re working with in it with a coach and education coach type person in there saying this is the way you have to use your notebook if it’s not working for you is not working for you. The rule it is that you have to have system that are reliable in that work for you if your system is not working for you for your learning style for your thinking style for your brain. And if it’s not reliable, then it’s breaking the rule in. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care what they told you now, obviously there’s your heart you have to apply the the trial but what I do with my client is I help them find systems that work for their bring. I don’t tell any of my students. This is the way this is how we’re going to do. This is the only way I tell them whatever way works for you that fine. Let’s find the way that work for you. So I want you to have a way that works through the years and years to come that you can respond. Stop by there is the status quo. There is the there are these old beliefs held by different systems about how things were and they will often tell you how you need to do things. But these things often don’t work for you. So I’m going to mention two of them right here the classic 3-ring binder. Okay, so lot of middle schools and high schools will do binder check and they for students use 3-ring binders, even though kids without with executive function issues do not do well at 3 remind me at 9 to 95% My kids do not do well with reminders because it’s way too many details to manage pieces of paper that are often meaning list. So that this stuff expect these kids to track loads of busy work paper that will never be used to guess. I don’t actually grade them on it and tell them you need to use it and then it’s implied was organized people use 3-ring binders and love them and that his truth. They feel good with three ring binders and it helps them stay overnight and it gives them a sense of control over those kids does the system keeps pushing a 3-ring binders that the planners schools will often give students planner supposed to look like hundreds of these planners that are we get a time with the month on the front with the student handbook and it was a periodic table multiplication tables and junk in the back of it and They’re so sick. And it’s all students with executive function struggles need is a planner that is just a planner to plan. I usually get the monthly ones with just 10 pages and teach them how to plan not all this clutter. So those are two things that that are can really throw people off. I’m going to talk about two more things right now one is the best you do need a reliable system for plan for managing this half that you have to do for the homework in the studying and many of my students really don’t know how to actually Stop by and we’ll rush through the homework. If doing the homework. So you do need a reliable system to track your score that is in fact true. So you do need a reliable system, but it doesn’t have to be this is the way that we plan you need to find a system for you. I have one student right now that’s using on Google keep which doesn’t have any dates on it, but he’s using it to track and manage to score. So I’m totally fine with that. I don’t care that use online planners like Google Calendar or I I don’t care which one they use as long as it’s working some of my students use to pay per player. I don’t care as long as the work. So you need to find a system that works for you do need a planet. Now. You also do need an organizational system for the massive amounts of papers that teachers pass out for some reason. Feel the need to pass out loads and loads and loads and loads of photocopy papers and and things and I see a lot of it it with my students is pretty meaningless. Honestly have to have a reliable systems for organized in the papers that do matter in your educational career. Okay, so you have to have these do I will put the stuff the goober Syndrome again will stay here is an organizational system use mine. This is the one that works. No one that works for you. Listen to your intuition ask yourself which one will work with other systems are both added another video in actually, I have another article from from way back that talks about all the different system that you need to be managing in your life and it brings it all into one simple so that you can grab that but basically Don’t just listen to Somebody. Stay distance away. If it doesn’t feel right you listen to your guy and don’t go with it make something up that works for you, finally. This is helpful to you. If you enjoy this at this gave you some good ideas. Go ahead and share it with somebody. I don’t care what you do it on Facebook email. It’s so many like, but I’d appreciate it if you share my work someday. I’ll see you soon.

How School Culture Can Be Optimized

Please CLICK above to share. School culture is a funny thing that we don’t talk about enough. It’s powerful and the better we build it, the better we educate our kids. But don’t put too much stock in school ratings to evaluate the success of school culture. These ratings are immensely misleading and are based on data rather than “feel” a school vibe or tone. Literally stand in a school and just feel how happy the staff and kids. This will tell you everything you need to know.

What are the basic cultures?

Here are 3 main cultural vibes you can sense when you spend some time in a school:
  1. Happy and healthy vibe: There is a sense of support, everyone being on the same page, a sense of belonging. You can sense this because people connect, smile, their shoulders are relaxed, they look peaceful.
  2. Suffocating vibe: People feel micromanaged, watched, monitored. It feels rigid. There isn’t a strong sense of trust or togetherness amongst staff. You can sense this in a school because there is an underlying sense of overwhelm, anxiousness and a tension in the air.
  3. Abandonment vibe:  People feel alone, thrown to the sharks, unsupported and separate. You can sense this in a school because it feels disconnected and like no one is on the same page.

How can a school culture be optimized?

Great school culture does several things well:
  1. They empower staff to shine.
  2. They truly put students first.
  3. People feel completely safe questioning the rules in honor of doing what’s best for kids.
  4. People are valued and encouraged to build upon their personal strengths rather than to conform.
  5. The school holds a safe space for personal & professional growth and for service to kids.
  6. People feel emotionally safe to show up and be their best.
  7. People feel heard, they know their voice is important.
  8. People feel happy in the culture and are having fun!
  9. People feel like they matter.
  10. People can question the status quo and talk about anything. They can move forward!
  11. People are on the same page, they are clear about and believe in the school mission!
  12.  Praise and gratitude. People value each other, they openly praise the wonderful efforts of everyone. People are noticed for what they contribute.
  13. Leadership actually leads rather than manages. There is a critical difference.
This video post was inspired by an awesome IEP meting that I went to recently where the school culture was incredibly supportive. Unfortunately, I don’t often feel this level of strength in schools I visit, but it’s not rocket science. We can change these cultures! Teachers want to shine, they want to serve kids. So why do over 50% of all teachers in America leave the profession by year five? Because of the culture. They don’t get what they need in order to serve their kids, and they burn out. Same old story, teachers often don’t have the money, resources, training, time or support they need, and it is utterly exhausting. A great culture can make all the difference. Enjoy the video, and please share it with someone you care about.
Love my work and want to give? Click here! To support me, please CLICK at the bottom to share. Click here to visit my official YouTube Channel & subscribe if you want! Thank you — Seth
Reading the transcript? Great! We’re currently uploading hundreds of transcripts so you can read them asap, but they are NOT all edited yet. This is a big process. If you notice anything wrong and want to help us, feel free to click this Google Form to share it. Thanks so much for pitching in! – Seth

Video transcript:

Hey everybody. What’s up? This is stuff of stuff Pro., I’m glad you’re here today. I want to take a quick look at school culture. What makes an awesome school culture. I am in a lot of schools for a lot of IEP 504 RTI meeting all kinds of things. So I get to a lot of different schools. I get to see and feel a lot of different School cultures and the second you walk into school. You can feel the culture today. I went to an IEP meeting and walked out of there and I was so impressed. I love it when I walk out of these meetings and I just feel so I just appreciate teachers so much and in the schools in the school culture, and I do think that 99% of X School culture is a top-down thing. Unfortunately where the principal really tends to set the tone for the culture tends to And in this case is just great people who really provided a great environment for teachers could feel like they can be their best which is what teachers want to do. They want to be empowered. They want to feel like they can really shine they want to serve kids. So and of course as you know, the teachers often will get burnout. In fact over 50% of all teachers hit by year five. That’s an extraordinary way high percentage of people getting burned out and leaving the profession that we need in there to serve our kids how many I’m going to talk a little bit about school culture and some of the things that I see in schools that schools are doing right to make the school culture of positive awesome place. So first of all, I see they’re sort of these three basic different vibe set that the culture tends to provide. First of all, they can have this happy Vibe were people you can tell that the teachers feel happy at peace safe. They feel like they belong there part of this this place. Then you can see these other schools were people seem to feel very overwhelmed and suffocated. They feel like they’re being watched too much monitor too much. It’s too stringent to type too much too restrictive and they just feel like there’s a lot of pressure you can see that and then there is the other type where people feel like they’ve been thrown to the sharks that let go there abandoned their neglected. There is just like going to go do your job. You may not have the resources the time the money whatever to be at the teacher you want to be a go figure it out. So they’re sort of these three One that very healthy one that can feel very stifling and suffocating and tight and rigid and one that feels too loose and let go and and like it you’re not even noticed. Okay. So these are the three Basics that I see now some of the things that that I see at schools that have a great culture again, right when I walk into school. I can feel what the culture is like and you can tell there’s some schools that really put kids first. That means that the teachers are free to have real conversations. They don’t have to just follow the rules. They can say wait. This world doesn’t fit this kid or this world doesn’t fit my class in this case and they’re able to openly expressed that they’re able to think for them self and think what is best for this kid. Not just follow the rules with blinders on and say okay. This is how we do it. This is how we’ve always done it. So this is the way I will do it. To question the rules and and think to put the put the kids first. Also a great school culture is a place that really holds the space for people and the rest of this is going to talk a lot about how we hold a space but it holds a space where people can feel safe where people can feel like they can shine where people can feel like they can serve his and where kids feel like they can shine and they can grow. How do we do that? Well in order to hold a space people have to feel emotionally safe. The teachers must feel emotionally safe. Like they can be who they are. They can use their strengths to serve kid. They can say what they think they are safe. They’re not going to be Sean. They’re not going to be put down there not going to be stifled by Administration people will Empower them to feel sick now when the teachers and Staff feel safe emotionally safe. Guess what the kid that I feel more emotionally safe the teachers can then hold a space for the kids to feel safe. Like they can be themselves and express. People need to their needs to be spaced held where people can feel heard that’s supposed to be a diagram of the human ear. I know I know you’re impressed. I know I know that diagram there. So people need to feel heard. They need to feel like it’s important to be heard. They need to feel like the administration will listen to them not criticize them not try to make them conform but that they will actually listen and hear and that they care about what people say so they have to hold a space that people feel emotionally safe that they can feel like they’re heard these healthy cultures also are places where the teachers are happy and they’re having fun. You see the staff laugh together talk together support each other. There’s some schools. I walk into in there such a seriousness about the staff and just as ripping this gripping as you can walk into a school and see a go go ahead and walk into a couple schools in the notice if I see people just kind of like they’re uncomfortable will win the staff looks uncomfortable. How do you think the kids feel but when the teachers are having fun in their happy and they feel like they’re in again the using the word a place where they belong where they matter where they’re heard where they’re emotionally safe. These happy people. They can really help the kids feel happier and have the kids help the kids have more fun. Able to question old systems in in a great school culture again people can feel heard they feel like they can speak they can question the old systems for example letter grade teachers can talk openly about whether or not they even agree with letter grades or should they have portfolio system or should they use rubrics or none of the above? Should they develop a new system that meets the needs they can actually have these discussions. We can talk about standardized tests and the opt-out movements and they can openly talk about how they feel about standardized tests. Now, it’s affecting them and how it’s affecting the kids a lot of schools that people don’t feel safe to talk about the old system. They just feel like okay. This is the way it is. I can’t question it. I just have to comply with the way the situation is regardless of how my heart feels about this stuff. So you want people to be able to question and have dialogue in the school culture. Is there free Going to do that one last. Schools that where we’re really has that feel of safety and holding space and people happy. There’s also clarity about the school culture people know what the mission is. I’ve been in several schools that don’t even know what their mission is and I won the first things that I do it when I’m researching a school for a family that I work with is I look up the school mission last week. I actually called the school because I was looking at some parents are trying to decide what school to send the child to and I asked about the mission and the person on the phone wasn’t even aware of the web page. I was talking about that said the mission I was baffled help him this person not even know what the mission is, but the sad thing is is that this is not uncommon schools off and don’t even stopped off and doesn’t even know what the mission is the principal the administration to leadership doesn’t talk about the mission. It’s it’s not really important. They’re so concerned about Scores and data and testing and looking good and getting budget things and whatever their minds are are consumed with their not consumed with they get they lose sight of this is how the school decided to serve kid based on these principles and that they kind of forget about it. So bad the schools that are really strong that there is Clarity people seem to be on the same page whether or not they can even articulate the mission perfectly. There was a Vibe where you can tell people are on the same page but culture is established. Is that safety is there Finally in these places where people are happy. They’re having fun. There is space health for people to be free to be who they are to shine to bring their best to serve kids. There is a culture of praise. The teachers are praising the kid the parents are praising the teachers the teachers are Paisley parents. They feel like they’re on the same team consequently in schools were the culture is not good. There is like this budding like like parents and teachers don’t feel like they’re on the same team. But when I go into schools that are really healthy like you can tell people feel like they’re on the same team. The principals are openly praising teachers not I’m not talking about 5, I’m talking about people who are noticing the hard work heart the effort that goes into what it takes to educate our kids people are. Praising people are complimenting people are noticing the positive energy is taken to to focus on what’s good. What’s growth with positive in these places. So anyhow, that’s part of my Spiel on on what creates a great school culture. This is not scientific or anything. These are just things that I see a lot and some things I really wanted to share because to me it’s not rocket science. I think the leadership has to lead not manage. Lead and when the leadership leads and provides a safe place for people to grow and serve kids then people can really have an awesome culture. I hope you have an awesome week. I will see you soon. And if you like what I’m doing, please subscribe right here in the YouTube channel, and if you like this video, please share it with somebody you care about you off.

“Stop Stealing Dreams”

If you haven’t read this yet, it’s time. It’s called Stop Stealing Dreams (What is School For?) by Seth Godin. It’s one of my favorites, something I’ve read several times. I consider it a must-read for anyone interested in education that works. It’s a 200 page manifesto in PDF format. Download it and dive in when you get time (at least read the first few pages this week to get a taste for it). Enjoy…

You can read it here: Stop Stealing Dreams (What is School For?)

Seth Godin
Seth Godin
What are some of your favorites??? You can share below.

4 Education changemakers that I love and that you should definitely know about

For those of you who know me, you know I am an extremely mission driven human being. I’m deeply committed to education, to my belief that it is the key to a great life. And I’m cynical, I become very disturbed by anything that I feel gets in the way of education (like massive testing, textbook and curriculum companies who place profit before kids). I seek to help change education so it does a much better job of meeting the real needs of ALL children, including outside-the-box thinkers. I spend countless hours immersed in my mission and I’m constantly striving to refine my ideas, to share them through blogging and speaking, and to work with complex students to help them transform their educational experience from one of frustration to one of confidence. I follow A LOT of ed bloggers and read A LOT about unconventional approaches to education. I perpetually research anything and everything I can in order to learn more and become better at what I do. Over the years there have been a good handful of people who have greatly inspired my work. They are people who are movers and shakers, renegades, disruptors, instigators, people who have dedicated part of their lives to helping children, regardless of how unpopular their views might be. Today I want to share some of these people with you because I think their work may help you on your journey.  Without further ado…

1. Seth Godin

Seth is not an educator in the traditional sense, he’s a well-known “marketer.” However, I see him as a great teacher and as someone who is making a significant dent. He gives generously of his ideas to help the world, and his ideas about education are first-rate. I read his blog daily and I want to encourage you to sign up for it. Each day he sends out a quick and pithy article that makes me think. Stop Stealing Dreams is a big picture manifesto that examines the purpose of education. I’ve read it a couple times and it’s a must-read for parents and educators. Here’s the Stop Stealing Dreams TED talk.

2. Diane Ravitch

Diane is an intense and passionate personality who completely shifted her views on education. I’ve been following her blog since early 2013 and I’m blown away by her knowledge and dedication. She blogs like mad and writes deep, heavy articles clearly articulating her views of education reform. She dives into immense detail about any issue you can think of relating to education. She is relentless and cares about what’s right for kids. I suggest you sign up for her blog and check out one of her books, like Reign of Error (I’m well into it right now. Awesome.)

3. Alfie Kohn

Alfie does a phenomenal job dissecting the problems with our grading systems and standardized testing. He also looks at how many of the approaches parents take are counter productive and what to do about it. He is passionate and his writing is easily digestible. Alfie on Amazon

4. John Taylor Gatto

John taught for 30 years, resigned and did a great deal of work to change education through looking at the history of education and the consequences that our system has on our children. I have read his book, “Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling” a few times and recommend it highly. I have also watched and read just about everything I could get my hands on from him… I love his work. It’s important and he doesn’t hold back.

What about you?

I could name many others who have inspired me, like Joseph Renzulli, Howard Gardner and Benjamin Bloom. But what about you? Who are your favorites? Who has influenced your thinking about how we can best educate our children? Share with us below in the comments. We’d love to hear your thoughts.  

What in the world are we doing anyhow?

alan-wattsWelcome to 2015. I want to start the year off by stepping back to take a look at what we’re doing with education. As I reflect on my past year, I keep coming back to why I do what I do. I help kids because I believe deeply in the power in education to open doors. Not “school,” but education. By this, I mean to give learners what they need to have a great life now, while preparing them for a great future. How well are we doing this? Too often we miss the boat. Kids fall through the cracks as we push them to fit the mold rather than empowering them to build upon their inherent strengths, interests and talents. They often go “unseen” as we push them towards standardization. We rely heavily upon metrics that are concrete and easily measured, yet these can offer little more than a fuzzy snapshot. There is so much more to the picture – our kids are extraordinarily complex human beings equipped with gifts that can’t be measured using this data. A great life isn’t defined by scores, grades, income or material wealth. Success is being able to intentionally craft a life of joy, peace and purpose. It is crafting a life full of experiences that are personally meaningful and valuable. This clip of Alan Watts reflects this sentiment beautifully and is one of my favorites. Enjoy. Here’s the transcript:
What makes you itch? What sort of the situation would you like? Let’s suppose, I do this often in vocational guidance of students: they come to me and say well, we are getting out of college and we haven’t the faintest idea what we want to do. So I always ask the question: What would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really enjoy spending your life? Well it’s so amazing as the result of our kind of educational system, crowds of students say ‘Well, we’d like to be painters, we’d like to be poets, we’d like to be writers’ But as everybody knows you can’t earn any money that way! Another person says ‘Well I’d like to live an out-of-door’s life and ride horses.’ I said ‘You wanna teach in a riding school?’ Let’s go through with it. What do you want to do? When we finally got down to something which the individual says he really wants to do, I will say to him ‘You do that! And forget the money!’ Because if you say that getting the money is the most important thing you will spend your life completely wasting your time! You’ll be doing things you don’t like doing in order to go on living – that is to go on doing things you don’t like doing! Which is stupid! Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing then a long life spent in a miserable way. And after all, if you do really like what you are doing – it doesn’t really matter what it is – you can eventually become a master of it. It’s the only way of becoming the master of something, to be really with it. And then you will be able to get a good fee for whatever it is. So don’t worry too much, somebody is interested in everything. Anything you can be interested in, you’ll find others who are. But it’s absolutely stupid to spend your time doing things you don’t like in order to go on spending things you don’t like, doing things you don’t like and to teach our children to follow the same track. See, what we are doing is we are bringing up children and educating to live the same sort of lives we are living. In order they may justify themselves and find satisfaction in life by bringing up their children to bring up their children to do the same thing. So it’s all retch and no vomit – it never gets there! And so therefore it’s so important to consider this question: What do I desire?
-Alan Watts With that, I want to wish you a tremendous 2015. I hope it is filled sharing great experiences with the people you love most, with people who raise you up, who bring you joy and who empower you to live authentically, manifesting your deepest desires. Here’s to not losing sight of what we’re trying to do through education. In gratitude and service, Seth Perler

Parents, you're not alone (Part 2)

I often cite the fact that the single most common sentiment I’ve heard from parents over the past 20 years goes something like this, “I just want my child to be happy and successful.” This idea drives all of my work. You see, to me, the value of an education is measured by how happy and successful our children feel. Too much of our “modern” approach to education actually gets in the way of this. So I recently posed the following question to a Facebook group I like, “What is your GREATEST hope for your child?” Below, I list the responses, and it’s great to see that we are not alone – we all seem to want something similar for our kids. The reason this is such an important reaffirmation for me is because it helps me know I’m on the right track. What would it be like if schools, rather than using standardized tests, grades and data to measure human potential, simply asked kids and families if they felt happy and successful? Then asked, “what exactly do you need to feel successful and happy?” What if educational programming was designed in response to these answers? What if that was our main focus?
In the quotes below, you will find many iterations of the same ideas. I counted some of them and I found that there were 45 iterations of “happy”, 30 mentions of “love”, 22 of “success”, 7 of “health”, 7 of “independence”, 6 of “respect”. Clearly, we know what we want for our kids.

Here’s the list:

Note: I removed the names and edited for spelling from the original fb post. That they have complete happiness in life and their choices. I want my son to always have happiness, self love, respect for himself and others around him. To grow up to be a loving, accepting, and creative adult who follows his dreams and loves life. Happiness success and love. Happiness success and love. Wish for him to be successful, happy, and confident! To find love, to be happy to have children and be a great parent. Great Health, Success, independence and be a self-loving efficient citizen to himself and his surroundings!!! To live, love, and learn to her full potential. To stay this sweet, kind, and loving forever. To be the best she can be. To be an independent, self loving adult that lives life to the fullest, fulfill all his dreams and to be a loving partner. Find his niche. Independence, Happiness. To be happy and successful. To be happy, to be a good men, to be successful in life. Good health and much happiness. Faith, love, and joy! That he will learn how not to look at himself as a flaw or a failure. That he will see his value and be happy within. I hope for my son to be confident, to be happy, to be successful. to be successful to find happiness and to thrive at everything. A secure foundation when life gets tough and seems hopeless. Success and happiness to function in society as an adult and raise his own family! I hope they succeed in all they aspire to do. Live happy and healthy and NEVER have to go through anything rough I ever did. I wish them the best as I provide. To someday have: his own family, to be happy and succeed at whatever path he chooses for a career, that he always tries his best and knows we are always there for him. My greatest hope for all my children is that they aspire to be what they dream of. To be better in the world than what I have. To be happy in all that they do in life. To grow up to be a respectful happy adult with lots of love and fun in his life. I want my son to have happiness, inner peace, self-worth & fulfillment in his life. Beyond that I just hope he has self-acceptance, is kind to & has empathy for others, & that he realizes he plays a major part in his own future. I also hope he makes good choices & learns from any bad choices he makes along the way. To be happy. To be healthy. To be a productive part of society. That she will be doing what makes her feel complete in a setting that feels like her own design. That he will be happy, healthy and succeed in whatever his dreams and aspirations may be when he leaves school. To be independent. To be happy. To be successful. To be independent. To be himself, happy, independent, fun to be around, and successful! I dream that one day my son will understand why I do the things I do to make sure he has a good life for him… including discipline. I wish that he one day understands and appreciates what I have done for him to raise him right. And that like him I too am just human and am just as imperfect as he. Right now to graduate from elementary school since now that I am aware of all of her academic needs. There is no doubt in my mind that my son is destined to do amazing things in life. My only hope for him is Happiness… Happy, healthy and one day be med free. That’s my wish for both my kids. My greatest hopes are for him to be happy and successful. I want him to be able to be what he wants. First I want him to know he’s loved unconditionally. Second, I want him happy, healthy and able to make good decisions on his own. Lastly, I want him to be able to adjust to daily changes that life throws at him without meltdowns. To be happy. To be a functioning member of society. To be independent. For my son, to be happy, to be an amazing person, and to live in Gods plan!! To be well rounded respectful and productive adults. To have both roots and wings. Never doubt who he is. Love deeply, laugh often, and live life to its fullest. I hope my daughter will have a life where she is loved, and respected by others and have true friends. True friends that will accept her for the loving person she is, faults and all. I hope she finds happiness and fulfillment whether it’s at home or a career. To keep the Magic alive inside of them. To be happy! To read at grade level by high school and complete high school and make a great career for himself. To find ever lasting love. To be happy and have successful relationships (including friends, boyfriends, spouse), and have a successful career. Happiness. That’s all I need :0) For both of my boys to be loving caring and passionate and forgiving husbands to their wives and outstanding fathers to their children rich or poor just be great men husbands fathers… but all that starts with me and their dad… Live….laugh….love To always have dreams and goals. To always have enough and to truly love themselves and others. To know, really know with their whole being, that they are loved unconditionally and that they are an incredible gift… To me and to the world. To be her, who she is and be the happiest she can be!! That she lives a successful life and she makes all her dreams come true. To be happy in whatever he chooses in life. Plain and simple. That she is has a happy life and finds a career that she loves. I hope she grows up to be a responsible young woman who loves and is loved. I hope she makes a difference in this world as often as she can and I hope she finds happiness and fulfillment. Love, life and happiness. In the words of Dr Spock: “Live long and prosper” Succeed, Love, Happy. To be happy, to never settle, and never be afraid to say no. To find his dream job, his dream partner and dream house. To live the best life they can and to be happy!!!! To be accepted for who he is and find happiness in whatever he desires. To not have any low self-esteem from being labeled and pre-judged. To be smart and successful. To be happy from within for all of her years to come. To be a successful in life. Love and treat others the way she wants to be treated. Always the make right decision in life, and last but not least, keep God first. To believe in himself! To be successful, To love himself, and to treat others with respect no matter what. That she survives her upcoming teenage years without all the scary statistics they say ADHD kids typically present and grows up to be a respectable adult. To be happy, to love. I know he will be a great father and husband. I hope he is blessed by his children as I am. And I hope that he will find his place in this world, which will lead to all the happiness he deserves!!!

In conclusion

We are not alone. It seems to me that we’re pretty clear on what we want for our kids, and school should be supporting the development of these types of things. Rather than having curriculum be driven by massive impersonal ‘standards’ (designed by massive corporate companies who profit from our kids), it should be driven by a question like this: How can we use education to empower our kids to have happiness, success, love, independence, health and to follow their dreams? What are your thoughts? What do you want for your kids? How can schools best support this? Feel free to comment or write me directly.

Real stories

I received this email last week and it articulated something I’ve heard countless times and in countless ways. Here’s a quote from it:
“My ex was a total asshole to my Aspie and it’s infuriating that he can’t understand his own son, nor does he want to. There’s “that” as part of this journey… fighting against educators, the “public” when we go places, and our own freaking spouses and families… Grrrrrrrr. My child’s soul got hurt. Ok, on a positive note, my son called me after it happened and they’ll be home today and we’ll talk it through. And that is a gift I can give him. :)”
Wow, those last 5 words of the first paragraph are especially heavy to me. Yeah, this isn’t your typical post. It’s real, it’s about messy stuff, it’s ugly. We deal with REAL issues and problems that affect our kids deeply. It’s also about solutions. A big gift in the above situation: She can hold a safe space for her son… HE (the son) called HER (the mom). THAT’S HUGE. I definitely can’t pretend to be positive all the time. A lot of what’s going on for our kids sucks. Parents call me in crisis, I hear the stories. There is real dysfunction; in family systems, school systems, community systems, employment systems. It’s real, the consequences are real and we can’t hide from it and expect someone else to step up and fix it. We all need to step up as much as we can. The reason I do what I do is because it’s important to me on a gut level. It pains me to know how children suffer needlessly and I want to see it change, so I do what I can. It’s only through real dialogue that we can come to meaningful solutions. Of course there are change makers, proactive people, people doing great things, healers. Of course there are countless people who have courageously stood up to injustice and made a difference. And I’m certain that if you are still reading this, you’re part of the solutions. Anyhow, I certainly don’t have all the answers. I have ideas, but that’s about it. For example, I think fear is the main culprit, that it is a corrosive force that underlies all dysfunction. I think that it’s scary for us adults to feel our feelings, and this has tremendous consequences. I think that we are pretty checked out as a society, that we have opportunities to hide and avoid healthy vulnerability at every turn. I think that prevents us from having deep connections which make life full and rich and meaningful. I know that I’ve done so much work on myself over the years that I don’t know what I’d do without it. You probably have done a bunch of  your own deep inner-work as well. We ALL have baggage and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Yet our culture tells us it’s not ok to talk about. Keep your mouth shut. Don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. Forget about it and it will go away. There’s this saying,
“Don’t compare your insides to other’s outsides.”
We may look at people on the outside, and everything looks great. We can compare too much sometimes. Again, we ALL have stuff. I have so many parents and kids open up to me as they get to know me. I hear so many stories of suffering… and stories of triumph. But time after time my heart hurts because so much of the pain is unnecessary. It’s 2014, we have tools to work with fear, emotion, clarity, yet our approach to education is archaic and ruled by quantitive data. We misappropriate so much value on this data, these scores, that we miss that point. The point is quality of life, and our metrics simply don’t cut it. We often do a horrible job of addressing emotional needs, social needs, physical well-being, inspiration, creativity, curiosity. 
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” -William Bruce Cameron 
What counts for YOUR children? What do you really want for them?  Shame and silence hold us back. Our stories need to be told so we can support each other and help our kids have the lives and opportunities they deserve. Some tragic stories make the news-these are so important. But we hear about these when it’s too late. We need to share our stories now, support each other now, live in the solution now. So tell me dear reader, what’s real for you? What’s your story? What do you need in order to help yourself and your children live as fully as they deserve to? In service, Seth ps-yes, the person quoted above gave her permission for me to use her words. If you’d like to share your story, I will hold that space for you any way you want. You can write directly to me privately, post a comment at the bottom to share with the community, ask me to share your story anonymously, etc..