The Daily Riff - BE SMARTER. ABOUT EDUCATION.

What Adults Can Learn From Kids: "Don't Underestimate Our Ability"

12 Year Old Literacy Advocate Sets Us Straight
Are Teachers & Parents Actually Making Kids "Shrink To Fit?"
TED Video - Eight Minutes of Adora Svitak Read more

Welcome, Professional Students . . . to the Hunger Games, er, we mean School

"First, students have to jump through ever-more demanding, preassigned academic hoops. Instead of developing a passion for one subject, they're rewarded for becoming professional students, getting great grades across all subjects, regardless of their intrinsic interests." - David Brooks, The Creative Monopoly Read more

Educator shows how collaboration is key to math and science mastery

Innovator or traditional educator? Read more

Opting Out from Standardized Testing

Educator Will Richardson makes a decision to opt his son out of the state test & shares his story Read more

High School: Are the Kids Alright?

"Long ago my son determined exactly how not to let the institution of school get in the way of his learning, and had explicit plans for choosing courses carefully so that he had ample time to attend local university lectures and participate in arts events." Read more

Three Great Reads on High-Stakes Standardized Tests

Three Great Resources for Parents, Teachers & Administrators Read more

The Flipped Class = flipped homework

flipping a class is also flipping homework. I know, "no kidding, Sherlock" you may be thinking, but the flipped class will have impact on disrupting the concept of homework. Read more

How the Flipped Classroom Is Radically Transforming Learning

. . .AND how it changes the way teachers talk with parents - - - Read more

The Flipped Class: Myths vs. Reality

We also realize there is a lot of mis-information about the Flipped Classroom and quite a bit of controversy about whether or not this is a viable instructional methodology. Read more

Jon discovers Instagram and Google Glass

"People are living in the moment and want to share in the moment" Professore Sundar said."Two huge tech stories, Google Glass and Facebook's purchase of Instagram, that have wiped patent lawsuits news off the front page, for now at least. ... Read more

The 3 Myths about Competition: How it affects student motivation

"When 85% of school is built around competition . . " Read more

"It takes education to change your reputation . . . "

"Young Homie" Chris Rene Read more

The Minerva Project: Shaking up the Ivies?

A Start-Up "E-lite" University with Urban Classrooms backed by Silicon Valley and Larry Summers Read more

"Sugar and Kids: the Toxic Truth"

There is a "high" one get from this substance - which is also hidden in so-called "healthy" foods such bread, tomato sauce, yogurt - where one needs more of it over time to get the same feeling of satisfaction, even after a week. Read more

Hard Sciences. A "Boy" Thing?

What schools and parents can do to guide girls' interests in Science, Technology, Math & Science - PBS Video + Series - Judy Woodruff reports Read more

The Limits of Education

New guest post. Financial Literacy: Yes. Does it equal "doing the right thing?" Not necessarily. Read more

Parents: Are we sabotaging our own kids' math "ability"?

Many parents in the United States assume that (math ability) is just some kind of aptitude - some kids have it, some kids don't . . . The result is most of our kids (in the U.S.) don't do really well in Math . . ." Read more