Swimming Lessons
We might think we’re throwing the kid into the deep end to teach them to swim, but we’re actually throwing them into Niagra Falls. Continue reading Swimming Lessons
Tag: education
Prepared for Anything
When I was in high school, I had a calculus teacher who would sometimes disparage some of his fixed-mindset colleagues. “In her lesson plans, there’s a week-long gap at the end of November,” he’d say. “It just says ‘No School — Kennedy was shot.’” Of course, he was exaggerating. This was 25 years after the Kennedy assassination. His point was that some teachers seem to … Continue reading Prepared for Anything
Where is the School?
Where is the school? The school that empowers our children to create the better world that we have decided to eschew?The school that fosters curious, lifelong learners?The school that invites skepticism and expects students to point out inconsistencies between the things we say and the things we do?The school that embraces Christian values, and Muslim values, and Hindu values, and Jewish values: that taking care … Continue reading Where is the School?
The Most Important Thing
It’s been a tough year for education. There’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty. We’re seeing abrupt changes to practices and policies. Many of those appear to be rooted in fear or political priorities. Others seem to focus on discrediting educators and pushing the narrative that public schools are inept or ineffective. There are constant attacks on funding sources, and increased measures to funnel public dollars … Continue reading The Most Important Thing
Self-Evident
I don’t know where I learned about the purpose of government. I don’t think it was in high school. While my American History class did a deep dive into information literacy through the lens of primary sources, the motivations of those creating the sources, and the necessity of identifying and accounting for bias, we didn’t get into the big picture of why there’s a government … Continue reading Self-Evident
Odds and Ends
For the last decade or so, I’ve carried around a little notebook that I refer to as my “think book.” It’s a place to put notes and ideas and observations and connections that I may want to come back to later. This week, I transitioned from volume 9 of the book to volume 10. Whenever I do that, I read through the old book one … Continue reading Odds and Ends
Are They Ready?
Yesterday, 206 students walked across the stage, accepted their diplomas, shook hands with a bunch of people they didn’t know, and walked off into their futures. They’re an impressive group. Eight of them are National Merit finalists, putting them among the top 1% of American students. An additional 11 are commended scholars (top 4% nationally). Collectively, they took 136 advanced placement courses and 255 college … Continue reading Are They Ready?
Recalculating…
It’s been 20 years since I bought my first car with an in-dash navigation system. It was magic. Type in a destination, and it’ll show you a map with turn-by-turn directions telling you how to get there. “This will make you stupid,” one of my colleagues exclaimed at the time. “You don’t need to know anything.” And it’s true in the sense that I don’t … Continue reading Recalculating…
Mission Driven
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Preamble, United States Constitution The Preamble to the US Constitution defines what the … Continue reading Mission Driven
Effect Size
John Hattie wanted to answer a very simple question. We’ve been studying school improvement for decades. We’ve tried all kinds of new initiatives, programs, philosophies, and approaches to improve student learning. We’ve spent millions of dollars on research, and thousands of graduate students have wrestled with the question of how to make our schools more effective. If we really want to improve student learning, where … Continue reading Effect Size
High School Knowledge
Why do we go to school? It’s an absurd question, really. If you ask students, they’re usually suprised by it. Everyone goes to school. There’s no real choice. We have to go to school. It’s what we do. And parents are generally in the same boat. They may say something about preparing students for the future, but really, kids go to school because society tells … Continue reading High School Knowledge
25 Years of Ed Tech
I’ve enjoyed the journey through Martin Weller’s “25 Years of Ed Tech” this spring. Martin worked with Athabasca University Press to publish the book with a Creative Commons license. This allowed Clint Lalonde to produce a community-sourced audio book, with chapters read by folks from all over the English-speaking world. Laura Pasquini coupled the audio book with a weekly podcast, in which she discussed each … Continue reading 25 Years of Ed Tech
Taste of Tech 