Tag: parents

I receive thousands of advertisements every year, promising to have the solution to everything that ails our traditional public school system. Like this one: “Hello Scott, We’ve leveraged the process of innovation in a stimulating, multi-disciplinary course that promotes the real-world skills of creativity, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship. The course engages students at all levels for…

I recently read an interesting piece posted by Will Richardson from the BIG Questions Institute. Richardson writes, “As much as the systems and structures of school seem to be intractable, let’s remember one thing: All of what we do is a choice.” “We don’t have to give grades. Lots of schools don’t. We choose to…

I recently listened to a podcast when Ezra Klein interviewed Rick Rubin, the famous recording producer. In the introduction, Klein says this about Rubin: “Reading Rick Rubin’s production discography is like taking a tour through the commanding heights of American music over the past few decades. Jay-Z. Run-DMC. Beastie Boys. Slayer. The Red Hot Chili…

When it comes to building athletic and performing arts teams, traditional schools invest time and energy to make these teams highly effective. When it comes to building academic teams within traditional schools? Well, not so much. I recently read with interest an article that appeared in Fast Company earlier this year titled “How Building Teams…

It’s always been perplexing to me why traditional educators have always equated learning space with places called schools. It’s like the traditionalists can’t recognize that learning is happening anytime and anywhere – not just 8 AM to 4 PM, August thru May. Earlier this month, I read with interest an interview published by Education Reimagined.…

Need more reasons to start thinking about what a new learning system might look like for our kids? Take a look at some of these comments from teachers when EducationWeek online asked them why students shouldn’t be allowed to redo assignments. Here are some comments falling under the “students might not try their best the…

It’s amazing to me how much school misunderstands and therefore misuses time. In school learning takes place and is therefore rewarded between 8 AM to 3 PM, August to May. Grades are determined and assigned based on a grading period, usually 6 weeks. Assignments are due on a daily basis, and if late, usually penalizes…

Last week I read with interest an article written by Kelly Young, leader of the Washington-based Education Reimagined group. In her piece, titled “Demand Is Here to Stay (And Might Have Been There All Along), Young writes, “Over the past decade and a half, I’ve been in conversations with thousands of families. From my days…

White parents have been catching a lot of heat these days inside public schools. Whether it has them criticizing critical race theory, books in their school library, or the new AP African-American curriculum, white parents have become media darlings when it comes to ranting and raving against our public school system. That’s why I read…