Tag: schools
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Everyone Needs a Learning Plan
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.…
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If You Don’t Believe Me, Ask Bev
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…
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Friday News Roundup…
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…
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Best of the Best: School’s Out!
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…
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Do You Know Where You Are with Your Own Learning?
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…
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It’s Time to Draw a Line in the Sand
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,…
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Friday News Roundup…
Welcome to A Better Path to Learning’s first “Friday News Roundup,” where we review the news that impacts your access to better learning. Teacher Job Satisfaction Hits an All-Time Low (EdWeek) According to the Merrimack College Teacher Survey released this week, only 12% of the more than 1,300 teachers surveyed said they were “very satisfied”…
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Do You Own a Learning Plan?
Every learner should have a learning plan. Adult learners. Young learners. Every learner. What’s a learning plan? Well, let’s start with what a learning plan is not. A learning plan is not a lesson plan, nor is it a scope and sequence, or a curriculum guide. Lesson plans, scopes and sequences, and curriculum guides attempt…
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Let’s Admit It! We Hate Teachers.
Last night I was reading my hometown newspaper, the Avoca (Iowa) Journal-Herald, and came upon an article that announced the local school board’s decision to increase teacher salaries for the upcoming school year. When I saw what the beginning salary was going to be for an Avoca teacher I almost fell of the couch. The…
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The Law to Fix Learning is 57 Years Old Today!
57 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) into law. The ESEA extended our federal government’s influence into public education, which was previously reserved mostly to the individual states. The act approved federal funding to improve professional development for teachers, equip America’s classrooms with improved instructional materials, provided…
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