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 … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
Teaching Ain’t Rocket Science (Part 1)
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 … [Read more...]
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, … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
“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?) What are some of your … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
What in the world are we doing anyhow?
Welcome 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 … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
You're not crazy
Seriously, you're not. I don't know if there's something in the air or what, but I've had so many students, parents and teachers tell me stories lately about broken schools, I have to share it. Know this: if something feels wrong, it probably is. There are a lot of people going through the same thing. So often we feel alone, wondering if we're off base, if we worry too much. Too many students struggle and suffer needlessly, and you're not crazy, even though systemic dysfunction would have you … [Read more...]
Two Types of Kids
Detail oriented and structured. Linear, sequential, step by step, left brained, focused, organized, good listeners, strong students, on top of things, responsible, concrete, practical, regulated, likes rules, facts, safe, on time, follows directions, knows the right answer, good with systems, uses planners, puts things back, good with folders and binders, turns in homework, studies. Not good with details. Global, big picture, holistic thinkers. Right brained, random, distracted, disorganized, … [Read more...]
Great Teachers
Great teachers don’t teach school, they teach people. They don’t “control” their classes, they lead individuals to thrive. They don’t get kids “caught up,” they meet learners where they’re at and inspire curiosity... Without judgement or shame. They don’t depend on “data to drive instruction,” they inspire people to fall in love with learning. They aren’t concerned with “accountability” because they’re entrenched in authentically caring that students feel like worthy and capable human … [Read more...]
World Domination
It's July 5th, 2013 and I'm heading to the World Domination Summit in Portland, OR. This conference has had a tremendous influence on how I've built my blog. It has been life-changing to be surrounded by the energy of a bunch of people trying to dominate the world with good work. WDS is a group of 3000 amazing people who do good for the world in various capacities (with a tech twist). Last year I met and saw some incredible speakers: Chris Guillebeau - is the ring leader of WDS, a man who … [Read more...]
Plan C
Plan A Kids go to school, conform to the system, learn what they need in order to be "happy & successful", have a great experience, live happily ever after. If that doesn't work... Plan B Get interventions to help the student conform to a broken system that doesn't serve them properly. More tutors, therapists, extra busywork, more testing, special programs, punishments, threats, lectures, etc.. Hopefully they won't learn to resent school. Hopefully they won't end up feeling bad about … [Read more...]
"I'm not smart."
I was recently working with a high school sophomore. Noting her strengths, I gave her a genuine compliment about her intelligence and ability to come up with uniquely creative solutions and viewpoints. She looked at me and said, "but I'm not smart. I get bad grades." My eyes burst wide and I said emphatically, "what do grades have to do with anything? You're not your grades and you are very smart." It's a crime when kids feel this way. Grades are tiny, blurry snapshots, not big pictures. … [Read more...]
Teach with Passion, not "Packets." And a Thanks to Jeff Bliss
By Seth Perler: A parent of one of my former students forwarded this video to me today. The student in this video is my kind of kid. As Jeff Bliss of Duncanville High is getting kicked out of class, he beautifully articulates what too many kids go through. In the video he's talking to his teacher, expressing his frustration about how they're being taught. He says to his teacher that kids need to learn "face to face", that "if you want kids to get excited you gotta make em' excited." "You want … [Read more...]
Parents, Trust Your Gut
Gut feeling Your gut. Also referred to as the heart, soul, inner voice or intuition. Regardless of what you call it, it’s very different from your mind. It carries a significantly quieter voice from deep within. The mind is LOUD. It chatters incessantly, always trying to ‘figure things out’. Although it has great ideas, we can’t always rely on them. In fact, the mind often tells stories that don’t serve us at all, but it tells them so loudly that it can drown out the gut feeling. The gut … [Read more...]