A Better Path to Learning

Tag: parents

  • Let’s Try a New Type of Learning Cohort

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    The school year is coming to an end. Research tells us more black, brown, and poor kids will end this year more under-performing schools than white, middle-class youngsters – a lot more. Most of the black, brown, and poor kids, attending these low-achieving campuses are, destined for summer school, a place traditionally reserved for kids…

  • Why School Districts Don’t Play Well with Their Communities

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    I’m heading over to our local high school tonight for a listening session. A student was shot and killed recently at another high school here in Des Moines and the school district is hosting a series of listening sessions to receive feedback from the community on school safety. I’m interested in hearing what the conversation…

  • Friday News Roundup…

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    It’s a rainy morning in Iowa this morning. Time to review this week’s news so I can make like a duck and head over to the Drake Relays today. The Education Culture War is Raging. But for Most Parents, It’s Background Noise (NPR) This one is a head scratcher. In a new national poll conducted…

  • Have You Ever Used a Learner Whiteboard?

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    In yesterday’s column, I described The Game Plan as a way to organize your learning. But The Game Plan is a long and rather unwieldy document, so we need to streamline the weekly learning process a bit. The Learner Whiteboard and Learner Whiteboard Part 2 are better ways to organize your learning goals over the…

  • Everyone Needs a Learning Plan

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    Last week I wrote a column focused on the The Scouting Report. To review, The Scouting Report introduces a learning assessment process that asks you where you are with your own learning. It can be used by both adults and young adults alike. It is the first step in establishing a true personalized learning plan.…

  • If You Don’t Believe Me, Ask Bev

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    I’ve been accused of being a grim reaper of sorts when it comes to my public education outlook. My critics tell me that nothing is ever good enough when it comes to these places we call school. Well, if wanting the best for our kids when it comes to their learning and at the same…

  • Friday News Roundup…

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    It’s Friday! Time for another installment of the “Friday News Roundup.” Let’s get to it! The U.S. Suffers From a Substitute Teacher Shortage (NPR) According to a NPR story earlier this week, schools don’t have enough short-term teachers to fill in the gaps for regular teachers missing a day. District in Illinois are now holding…

  • Best of the Best: School’s Out!

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    I know I promised a column on The Learning Plan today, the step after The Scouting Report, but a request for “Best of the Best” came in and should take priority. So, I’m sharing “School’s Out,” an article I wrote with a group of forward learning thinkers awhile back. The Learning Plan column will be…

  • Do You Know Where You Are with Your Own Learning?

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    For a learning plan to be effective, you must start with a personal needs assessment determining where you currently when it comes to the learning skills you want to improve on. A few years ago, I was fortunate to partner with Matt Barnes, a dedicated parent coach and learning creator, in Texas to launch The…

  • It’s Time to Draw a Line in the Sand

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    The traditional urban school district is broken, can’t be fixed, and must be replaced. Andy Smarick, Urban School Systems of the Future, 2012 People were shocked when Andy Smarick wrote this about America’s urban school districts 10 years ago. But today, very few urban school districts have shown any noticeable progress in getting black, brown,…