Wit & Wisdom
Game Changers & Tales of Triumph and Woe
Noam Chomsky: The Purpose of Education
"Education is really aimed at helping students get to the point where they can learn on their own. . . " Read more
7 Ways to Spark Engagement
Moving from on-task to learning: "Have you noticed that 'on-task' does not always mean engaged?" 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 Manifest
"The Flipped Classroom is an intentional shift of content which in turn helps move students back to the center of learning rather than the products of schooling." Read more
A Complex Web: Teacher-Student Relationships
"Like most of us, they (teachers) had complex personalities that meshed with some people and conflicted with others." Read more
The Parent-School Relationship: The Importance of Listening
"....I have been part of schools that have constantly told me what to do but never listened to what I had to say.' " Read more
21 Things That Will Become Obsolete in Education by 2020
Desks, Language Labs, Computers, Homework, Standardized Tests in College Admissions . . . . Read more
Does our educational system put the brakes on the entrepreneurial spirit in America?
"Parents could turn the system on its head if they weren't so caught up in outmoded mentalities about education forged in the stable economy of the 1950s (but profoundly misguided in today's chaotic, entrepreneurial economy)." Read more
"A Radical Idea For Changing Math Education"
Someone always asks the math teacher, 'Am I going to use calculus in real life?' And for most of us, says Arthur Benjamin, the answer is NO. Read more
Two Families. Two different paths to "academic excellence." And, the winner is . . .
But the two families - one Chinese, one Mexican/Jewish - have made strikingly different decisions about how to pursue academic excellence. One relies on a parent-driven focus on tutoring, advanced classes and testing drills, while the other allows . . . Read more
What Students (Really) Need to Know
"A good rule of thumb for many things in life holds that things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then happen faster than you thought they could." - Lawrence Summers Read more
"No one tests you on empathy"
Lots of very smart people lack empathy. They're able to test their way through life and get A's. How about empathy, adaptability, initiative and responsibility? Read more
The Double Whammy "F" Word: Fear of Feedback
A School Leader Riffs Read more
Can Messy Be A Sign Of Brilliance?
Einstein's Desk In Photo: What He & Agatha Christie May Have In Common Read more
Jon Stewart on SOPA: "Angry Nerds"
Masterful - - - Read more
Campbell's law in education: test scores vs. accountability
"A society in which decisions are based solely on numbers instead of sound judgment is one in which no one is truly accountable." Guest post. Read more
Something's Gotta Give
What stays, what goes, and what we're missing in education Read more
Visions of Mathematics: What Content Should We Teach?
Ben Daley of High Tech High Outlines a Revolutionary Approach to Math Read more
Is Science "Just So Darn Hard?" Or, do we make it so?
Why so many college students are dropping STEM & what to do about it Read more
"An Amazing Time For Math In This Country"
High School Math Teacher Dan Meyer, gig At Google, riffs about Math - photo NOT Meyer(!) TED talk Read more
How U.S. Education is Failing our Kids: Eric Ries
. . . how our educational system teaches students that incremental effort always brings incremental benefits. Not so . . ." Read more
Legendary Quincy Jones riffs about technology, music, math, creativity, and . . . parenting
" . . .We'd go to executive conferences with Bill Gates and he'd say, 'Alan will you please take over?' . . . " - Quincy Jones Read more
"Here are some of the powerful misconceptions about learning and teaching . . ."
Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education: "If I were trying to select a school system for my children or grandchildren, I'd beware of . . . ." Read more
Technology in the Classroom: Myths & Opportunities
Alan November video Read more
Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher
Holiday Movie Time! If you missed last night's 60 Minutes on CBS, check out Streep in this fabulous interview with Morley Safer. We also included a fun second video which was not featured on the show, Meryl's Men: How She Feels about her Co-Stars like Dustin, Jack, Kevin and Alec. Read more
Holiday Reading: Thinking fast and slow
Because it is much easier, as well as far more enjoyable, to identify and label the mistakes of others than to recognize our own. Read more
Boy Role-Modeling: The "Man Box"
New TEDWomen Video: Tony Porter Makes a Call to Men Everywhere Read more
Why Other Countries Do Better in Math
Should Parents "Race to the Tutor"? It's not what you think. Guest post. Read more
The 3 Myths about Competition: How it affects student motivation
"When 85% of school is built around competition . . " Read more
Are Your Students "Learning How to Learn"?
A Canadian teacher shares what she learned about teaching with technology, and discovers more what our students need to learn. Short Video. Read more
Would You Hire Your Own Kids? 7 Skills Schools Should Be Teaching Them
Tony Wagner, Former HS teacher, Principal & Co-Director At Harvard School Of Education Posts. "The Ability To Ask The Right Questions Is The Single Most Important Skill." Read more
Are Girls Really Alright?
"The Morale of this Story? Embarrass Your Daughters"- Rachel Simmons Read more
Three Great Books to Read Aloud to Your Tweens & Teens (Yes, you heard right)
Interesting that two of these three recommendations have to do with a teacher - isn't it? Read more
Mike Huckabee: Kids leave school not because they are dumb, but because they are BORED
Who Woulda Thunk? Chats with Sir Ken Robinson Read more
What's Missing in Education: The Entrepreneurial Edge?
Video Interview- Eric Ries, "The Lean Start-up," and Mark Suster: . . . numerous take-aways for educators, parents and students, covering topics such as the necessity of failure; Steve Jobs; what the next middle class will look like; getting out of our silos (one of my favorite topics); how software development is not just about creating another Facebook; and what's missing in education. Read more
What is the "right" kind of parent?
"It is sad to me when I hear parents feeling bad that they aren't doing "x", or feeling bad or embarrassed that they are doing "y"or doing too much of "x", or reluctant to ask questions and convey their concerns." Read more
The Parent Trapped
"While educators beat the drum about the importance of parental involvement in their child's education, many really mean parental compliance." Guest Post. Read more
The Door to "a New Generation of Leaders"
Seth Godin offers 3 ways to help people get things done Read more
Math Tutors to the Rescue?
Why So Many Students Aren't Mastering Basic Math Facts Read more
The 10,000 Hour Rule At Play: Federer Video
What Does It Take To Get Really Good At Something? (Humor) Read more
How to Create Nonreaders
Alfie Kohn Delivers a Powerful Essay About Motivation, Learning &Sharing Power in the Classroom Read more
Math Education: Arguing Over False Choices
"I tell my students that expertise in any subject, math or otherwise, has three components - facts, skills, and understanding. Each of these components is learned in a different way." Read more
Ask a student, how does your teacher learn?
"They (educators) need to be able to model their own learning process for their students. Ask just about any student how much her teacher knows, and you'll get a quick answer. Ask a student how her teacher learns, and you'll likely get a confused look. This must change . . ." -Will Richardson Read more
10 Ways to Think Differently about Teaching and Learning
Australian Edna Sackson challenges us whether our classrooms are "old school" or not - Read more
Teachers: Don't Leave Out the Parents
"I think we should start assuming that parents are truly on our side and not someone who is out to get us." Read more
How would students rethink education? The list may surprise.
While a few of those might seem large at first glance, the reality is that most students wanted more authenticity and more autonomy. Read more
Why I Would Fail Third Grade Math
Guest post from a physics college professor with a Ph.D who shadowed his own daughter's 3rd grade class Read more
When Was the Last Time You Shadowed Students for a Day?
"It is a grim experience." - Grant Wiggins responds to a John Merrow post about the Saving Our Schools Rally Read more
The Kindergarten Marshmallow Test
Will Your Child Be Successful? 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
Two Schools: Which one builds a better bully?
"Education-as-we-know-it is about building hierarchies - among athletes . . . " Read more
The Flipped Class: Shedding light on the confusion, critique, and hype
The Flip is in flux . . . as is an educator's evaluation of any instructional practice. Plus "Is Khan Academy an example of the flipped class?" Read more
Bullying: "Most parents have no idea . . . kids aren't talking" - 4 tell-tell signs
Photo above: Kameron Jacobsen, age 14, died from suicide brought on by bullying Read more
The best way to reach each student? Private school Math teacher flips learning
Stacey Roshan , private school teacher at Bullis School in Maryland, is asking and answering questions about the "backwards or flipped classroom" & how if affects the way students learn, in new guest post. Check out parent & student reactions, too. Read more
Famous Failures
Michael Jordan, Walt Disney and More Who "Didn't Make The Grade" - Video Read more
What Would Ted Sizer Say About Technology?
Guest Post About Harvard & Phillips Academy Andover Education Legend"One Of The Great Educational Minds Of Our Time" Read more
Dr. Jane (Ph.D.) Can't Network, Either
Guest Post: "Dr. Jane Knows How To Narrowly Present Herself To A Unique Audience Of Like-Minded Individuals. Is It Any Surprise That Students Aren't Well-Equipped For Our Present Economy?" Read more
A Definitive Guide for Developing a Technology Vision Statement for your School
. . ."students will be inquisitive, open-minded learners who use technology in a balanced & responsible manner along the way to becoming discerning, self-directed life-long learners . . ." Read more
The Flipped Class: Show Me the Data!
Ultimately, in teaching, there is no one size fits all. You, as a teacher, must do what is best for YOUR set of students. Read more
Can you describe the differences between feedback and measurement?
Measurement in Schools: Stuck and out of context? Read more
Music Education . . . do you recall . . . the day the music died?
"One of the things that musicians and artists tend to do is explore other people's art and other people's way of doing things" Read more
What Adults Can Learn From Kids: "Don't Underestimate Our Ability"
12 Year Old Literacy Advocate Sets Us StraightAre Teachers & Parents Actually Making Kids "Shrink To Fit?"
TED Video - Eight Minutes of Adora Svitak Read more
Charlie Rose: The Creative Brain
"Inspiration is for amateurs. Painter Chuck Close: "The rest of us just show up and get to work. Because everything grows out of work. You do something and it kicks open a door . . . " Read more
The Most "Inarticulate Generation?"
With the warnings about our culture's lack of empathy, attention span, scrutiny and desire for depth having reached a near cacophonous pitch, there are some powerful initiatives schools and teachers can implement to counter-balance this trend. A Case For Debating Teams? - 2 Min. Cutting Video Read more
Ending the Dinosaur Era?
Global is not a test score. Two thought-leaders. Fred Wilson interviews Carlota Perez in this illuminating and inspiring video about our global future Read more
"My screwed, coddled, self-absorbed, mocked, surprisingly resilient generation."
" . . we had a PC education - people tried to hide from us as long as possible that not everyone is equal we were told we all have a fair chance of making it that's just not so and we're starting to realize that . . ." Read more
The Paradox of Wealth
"But what is overlooked in all the shouting is that paradoxically, the people who have the most to gain from insuring some measure of economic equality and social justice are the wealthy."The Paradox of Wealthby Joseph Ganem, Ph.D."For the body... Read more
12 Angry Teachers
The Video By Teachers Depicting a Clever Debate About Teaching and Learning Read more
The Flipped Class Revealed
What Does a Good One Look Like? Part 3 of 3 of guest post series Read more
A "rising global army of freelancers." Are students equipped for this world?
The problem lies with the system that punishes artists and rewards bureaucrats instead. Read more
Entrepreneurs: Pirates in the Arena
In honor of Steve Jobs - the quintessential role model for entrepreneurs everywhere. Read more
Wanted: Teacher, Coach, or both?
"The coach is the boss of you, but they're not the boss." 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
The Great Disruption
"Two master narratives - one threat-based, one opportunity-based, but both involving seismic changes." Read more
A New Way to Look at Copying: a Prerequisite for Innovation & Creativity?
The Video Series: Everything is a Re-Mix Read more
Choke: Test-takers - - - a different way to look at test-prep?
"Performing poorly in pressure-filled testing situations can also lower people's confidence in their ability to succeed and their willingness to venture further in particular areas." Read more
Girls go to college, and boys create and run tech businesses. Ouch.
"Are girls better at school and boys better at breaking the rules?" Read more
The Flipped Class = flipped homework
Editor's Note: Been thinking about the flipped class and its relationship to solving homework issues - - after all, flipping a class is also flipping homework. I know, "no kidding, Sherlock" you may be thinking, but the flipped class will... Read more
Occupy Wall Street explained in a NY minute on Bill Maher's "Real Time"
Bongo drums, disorganization, and incoherence? Maybe not so fast . . . Read more
John Sculley on Genius
Former CEO of Apple riffs about Steve Jobs, what makes the best innovators & the nature of genius in this essay tribute to mentor - his "Oxford Don" - Alan Kay Read more
"Let's Raise Our Kids To Be Entrepreneurs"
"We're Giving Them Ritalin & Saying To Them: Don't Be An Entrepreneur Type, Fit Into This Other System And Become A Student". Video Read more
Steve Jobs: Liberal Arts Essential for Innovation
"We need to revolutionize education to encourage creativity and need to teach our kids to play, take a chance and create. By not teaching our children liberal arts we will hinder their capacity to innovate." Read more
College Drop-Out Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech: "Three Stories From My Life"
Followed His Curiosity & Intuition Which "Turned Out To Be Priceless Later On" VIDEO Read more
Steve Jobs: Why don't schools get rid of the crappy stuff?
People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. . . ." Read more
Life as a Learning Lab
" . . .we've spent hours and hours discussing how we can help students follow their interests and passions, and also help students learn powerful ideas and develop as systematic thinkers." Mitchell Resnick on Alan Kay, Squeak and Scratch Read more
Modern Manhood: Bill Bennett on Morning Joe
William Bennett promoting his new book, "The Book of Man," below, which prompted an interesting discussion on MSNBC's Morning Joe today. Read more
Lady Gaga: "Bullying is for Losers"
Video: Lady Gaga sings tribute to Jamie Rodemeyer, gay 14-year old who committed suicide last week Read more
"Mr. Cellophane" Invisible Kids: In the middle of the achievement gap
Because you can look right through me, walk right by me, and never even know I'm there Read more
"The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination"
JK Rowling, Harry Potter Author, Captivates Crowd With Harvard Commencement Speech Read more
Taking a homework break and "feeding my brain"
13-year old daughter is doing homework on-line. Mom walks in. Sees her watching a video when "supposed" to be doing homework . . . Read more
The Unintended Consequences of Grading "Effort"
"Even when I try really hard, I'm still dumb." Grading effort is a precarious endeavor that teachers need to think long and hard about before . . . Read more
Schools and Parents: A Kabuki Dance?
We asked then, why do some schools still play a kabuki dance when it comes to parental/family engagement? Read more
Conversations that happen in the middle
"We (parents and teachers) really don't get into a conversation . . ." Read more
Lipgloss: "The Gateway Drug" for Girls
3 Quick Videos from the "Women of the World" 2011 Conference Read more
Malcolm Gladwell: We're Off the Rails
Being Smarter about Stuff: like Income Inequality Read more
Think for yourself, your teacher might be wrong
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. Read more
Ten To-Do's for Young People to Consider
#1 - Build a "Personal Board of Directors" Read more
Education at the Crossroads
By Seth Godin. Should this be about school or about learning? For a while, smart people thought that school was organized to encourage learning. Read more
Random good reads: "Face it. Don't Facebook it."
"I felt they wasted a lot of time at Lulu's school" - Amy Chua, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" Read more
How I Spent My Summer: Being Edgy
"Colleges have moved people from thinking they should be exceptionally well rounded to using the vocabulary that 'well rounded' means 'no edge,' " Read more
21st Century Skills: A "thorny problem" in the classroom
. . . .most high schools' science "experiments" are really "demonstrations," because they are "rigged" for the right answer, thereby disqualifying them as true experiments where outcomes are unknown. 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
Welcome Back to School, Parents!
A Back-To-School Newsletter - Does it sound anything like your school? Read more
Math Spiraling: down a black hole to nowhere?
Are there too many Math concepts being taught in the early years? Read more
Facebook and education? Social media? Ask kids what they think.
The Southpark Episode A group of teens set me straight this week-end when I asked them about Facebook. Read more
Michael Jordan and success: "Maybe I led you to believe it was easy . . . when it wasn't . . ."
Michael Jordan & LeBron James duke it out Read more
10 Steps . . . for smarter schools
Dennis Littky, Big Picture Learning, gives us his 10 top musts. Read more
Is Math Art? Dream or Nightmare?
"A Mathematician's Lament"Every parent & educator should check out this book excerpt Read more
Passion-Based High School
"One Student at a Time" -Dennis Littky, co-founder Big Picture Learning, New TedxNY Talk Read more
Digital Natives: Another Myth?
Are adults relinquishing responsibility for technology to kids? Tom Whitby weighs in. Read more
What Should Kids Know?
What about reading and writing, civics, life skills, mastery skills, pleasure of knowledge? What kind of Math should high schoolers learn? Read more
Got Jobs? Yup. Got Tech?
A Help Wanted Listing via Fred Wilson post Read more
I Used to Think . . . that traditional public education was the institution with the most promise . . .
"I saw that teachers unions, administrators, parents, and school boards were locked in a bureaucratic stasis of self-interest. . ." Read more
The Social Network Grows Up with Google Plus
What goes round must . . . What circle of "Friends" are you in? Sound familiar? Read more
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation." - Plato
There is a Play Deficit in our country and it is harming our children. Our children are playing less than any previous generation, and research clearly shows this lack of play is producing profound physical, intellectual, social and emotional problems for today's kids. Read more
What does it mean to be a tech-savvy and connected principal?
I wasn't there. In fact, I was almost literally half-way around the world. It happened in Philadelphia and I'm in China. Read more
Ten Ways to be an Entrepreneur
Lessons From Matt Drudge, Twitter and Foursquare: Fred Wilson of USV Read more
Are You Ready to Flip?
Part 2 of 3 of "The Flipped Class" Series - Guest Posts Read more
Are our kids sitting too much? (Are we?)
"What's particularly interesting about recent research is the revelation that sitting for extended periods of time does significant damage to human health that cannot be undone by exercising." Read more
Best College Graduation Speech 2011
"The mess, the mess! . . . an engraved invitation to transformation. . . Certainty is dead. . ." Read more
Financial Literacy: Making Math Relevant
Guest Post By Joe Ganem Ph. D.: Schools Fail Teaching Students "Quantitative Literacy" Read more
Am I Preparing Students For My Age Or Theirs?
I can never understand how and why we expect students with far more energy, ideas, natural creativity and far more everything, to be more "contained" in their behavior than adults. Read more
Letting Go in Fatherhood
Teacher Jose Vilson: "I called my father this morning, a rather unusual thing for me since our relationship doesn't necessitate the usual banter and warmth that sitcoms project . . ." Read more
A Connected Teacher: Priceless
The Connected Classroom: Ideas For Teaching With A Real-Time Global Perspective Read more
Commencement Speeches 2011: Amy Poehler at Harvard and Tom Hanks at Yale
Very different speeches, laden with humor, but both circle round to our shared humanity, lest we forget. Read more
An Awards Day Poem: by a Mom whose son didn't receive one
It's that time of year again, and for many parents, Award Ceremonies at school are like walking an emotional trapeze highwire . . . Read more
How about a Family Awards Ceremony?
The key here is that by encouraging our children to strive for these awards, and defeat the other, they will achieve more and be pushed toward a more successful career in the real world. Read more
The Unintended Parent-Child Disconnect
"The real value of college isn't in teaching what is known; it is in preparing students for the unknown." Read more
What Would Yoda Do? Teachers Tweet About Their World
Want a glimpse behind-the-scenes of what teachers think about their own development? Read more
Is Learning a Sport?
Students should not go to school to win - students should go to school to learn. Read more
Bravo, Gustavo Dudamel!
The 29 year-old Conductor Who Is Redefining Music Education Read more
7 Lessons From My Father
Chris Wejr is school principal at Kent Elementary School in British Columbia. He has spent his career working with students as a high school physical education, math, and science teacher, an intermediate teacher, an elementary vice-principal, as well as a... Read more
Commie Core Standards?
State Governors have convened again to bring in a system of Common Core Standards across the country so that all children will be taught exactly the same thing in English and Math from kindergarten through high school... Dr. D. Rigour Is Baack! (Humor) Read more
Parents & the homework blues. Forget the flash cards . . .
"Be There. . . .Let's not forget the emotional connection between teacher and student." David Brooks and "The Social Animal." Read more
What Do They Know? They're Just Students . . .
Dr. Alec Couros Says He's An Educator, But Has His "Open Doctrine" Gone Too Far? Video - Humor Read more
How to Learn
"If we continue to look at education as if it's about coming to school to get the information and not about experiential learning, empowering student voice and embracing failure we are missing the mark . . . ." - Diana Laufenberg Read more
What Skateboarding Can Teach Us About Learning
Dramatic Video "School Sucks" : Building a Better Learning Culture Read more
Colbert takes on Renaissance man, James Franco
"Is his brain like a shark, and will die if he stops learning?" Read more
Google Science Fair: Singing Fingers & Musical Paint Strokes?
Mitch Resnick, professor of MIT Media Lab takes us on a quick discovery tour - Video Read more
Why Change is So Hard
Food for thought . . . radish or chocolate chip cookie? Read more
Some Big Questions for Educators & Parents
"Are we intentionally, purposefully, and explicitly modeling these new technology literacies for our students?" Read more
The Shift is About to Hit the Fan?
"I Am" documentary by Tom Shadyak, director of Bruce Almighty, The Nutty Professor, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Read more
Don't Take Away My Extra-curricular Activities or Charge Me Extra
Over the past few decades, we have tended to define human capital in the narrow way, emphasizing I.Q., degrees, and professional skills. - NY Times David Brooks Read more
Sir Ken Robinson: The Purpose of Education
It's Personal. Cultural. Economic. Read more
Ten Points to Consider When Transforming Towards a Digital Curriculum
"A digital curriculum allows the creation of a society of creators, innovators, and learners." Read more
Jon Stewart Offers Solution to Education Crisis in DairyLand
Two Videos: Crisis in Wisconsin and Teachers vs. Wall Street Read more
3 Who Lead, Learn, and Think
3 Quick Videos. #1 Heidi Hayes Jacobs shares a leadership story when she goes head-to-head against a school principal and allows her ego to take precedence (we've all been there). Read more
10 ways to build resilience . . .
Does your child's school and class culture sound like this? Read more
Science Education: The Hidden Benefits
" . . . .scientific thinking has valuable uses outside of science. In science class we learn to interrogate nature, but the interrogation methods can be used to scrutinize many other ideas and beliefs." Guest post. Read more
School Pie Charts LOL
Final Exams, What Teachers Hate Most, What I Like About Being a Father, What to do About Homework, What I Got From My College Degree, and more . . . . funny charts Read more
How 7 Principles Of Baseball Can Help Transform How Teachers Teach
How to Teach so Kids Can Think and Learn - by Harvard's David Perkins Read more
The Day I Abolished Grading
"There was no love for learning. It was a game that I was perpetuating - and I was done perpetuating it." Joe Bower Read more
Teachers Share Their "Aha Moments"
"There was a time when I was a young teacher where I really thought my worth as a teacher was judged by how much I could cover and how much I could transmit to kids . . ." Read more
Stephen Colbert Interviews Tiger Mom
Well, we asked when the story broke, and Stephen did get around to interview Amy Chua - aka the Superior Chinese Mom" - last night on The Colbert Report. Read more
EDUCATION MASH-UP (Humor)
"So much cranky clamoring lately: Three major movies. Joe Scarborough, Seth Godin, even Carl Bernstein getting into the act. Who gave these intruders the stage? Don't "turn over the tables in the temple" in education!" I like the status quo. Cheers!" Dr. D. Read more
Learn Chinese & Become A Communist ?!
Socialism Studies With Jon Stewart on The Daily Show- PLUS CNN UPDATE 1/19/2011 Read more
High School Stinks
Science Leadership Academy Breaking the Mold - What High School Should Look Like Read more
Bill Gates Riffs about Math Education
Video: The Future of On-Line Lectures plus what Bill is reading and watching these days - Read more
Who is The Daily Riff's "Person of the Year" in Education 2010?
The Winner Made Everyone a-Twitter Read more
School Leadership: Jumping From Good To "Great"- Jim Collins & The Top Ten
What Jim Collins, Best-Selling Author of "Good To Great" and A School Principal Have To Say About What Leaders Students & Teachers Need Now Read more
School of One: Is This What "Blended Learning" Looks Like?
When Technology & Education Collide - Every "One" Has a Story Read more
Kindergarten Test-Prep Nightmare
Are You Tipping Off Your Child's Test Monitor? A Jaw-Drop View of How To Prepare Your Kindergartner To "Win" Private School Entry Read more
Six Creative Ways: Students + Tech = Contributors to Society
By Alan November: "If our children are to grow up to make important contributions to our society, it is essential that we provide them with powerful tools and experiences across the curriculum. This will require a new culture of teaching and learning that engages students as contributors." Read more
50 Ways to Make Your School More Democratic
Kirstin Olson Hits a Bull's-Eye Front and Center: How to Make Schools More Welcoming for Everyone? Read more
We're All Frogs Boiling In Water
The Hidden Impact of Technology on our Everyday Lives . . . Read more
A School Leader Chooses Student Potential Over Test Scores
"Ensuring that every young person learns means constant reassessment of the curriculum, multiple measures of student achievement, and support systems throughout the school." Read more
A Glaring Fundamental Flaw In Education
Guest Post. What Is Effective Teaching? Is "learning to cope with failure" a parenting flaw or "the way we educate" outcome? Standardized Testing and Stuff We Really Don't Want to Talk About . . . Read more
Stephen's Sound Advice: How To Ace The SAT's
We Give "The Colbert Report" A Perfect Score For Tips -- #1: "Spend A Lot Of Money"... Read more
What We Do Matters. Our Top 5 Video - Pacino
Al Pacino: "Inches" Make the Difference. Teachers, Parents, Educators - R-Rated Speech Read more
Cornell Professor Roars at Yawning Student
Having a Bad DayOn-line lectures don't have melt-downs. No wonder reverse teaching (lectures on-line with in-class work more engaging) is becoming a top-line conversation. May be a better deal for both students AND professors.Seth Godin has a point.Related posts in... Read more
How Design Impacted a Rural School System
A "Small Story" with Big Implications: "We need to be better citizens in our own backyard" Read more
So you want to get a Ph.D. in Humanities?
Humor: Video Series Plus "So You Want to Go to Law School" Read more
Pushing back on mediocre professors
Seth Godin: "The vast majority of email I get from college students is filled with disgust, disdain and frustration at how backwards the system is." Read more
"Pretty" Blown Away
Not just for parents of girls: Poetry Slam video Read more
The Education Crisis: "The Daily Show" Version
Wish-We-Thought-of-ThatThe Daily Show Version of "Education Nation" and "Waiting for Superman"Video Below (Humor)An education news round-up that only Lewis Black on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show can do . . . Black takes no prisoners with NBC's special "Education Nation"... Read more
Doodling in Math Class: Snakes & Graphs
Math as Art: "math relies too much on memorization and not enough on immersion" Read more
Colbert to Parents: Keep Fear Alive
"The More You No" Video: Banning Books & the March on Washington DC in October Read more
"Figure-It-The-Hell-Out Gene" Is Most Important When Hiring
WIT & WISDOM: CEO Looks for Grads Who Come Up with the Unexpected Read more
What American Teachers Can Learn From Japan
Bill Jackson Shares His Travel Journal To Japan & What He Found Out About Improving Teacher Quality, Cooking Shows & Asking Questions First Read more
The Illustrated Guide To A Ph.D.
Very cool representation of the process and end result of obtaining a Ph.D. - all in 10 quick slides. Very clever conclusion - check it out with link below:"Imagine a circle that contains all of human knowledge . .... Read more
Transforming School for Real Learning: The Video to Watch
Best education video of 2010? Brilliant TED talk by Chris Lehmann, principal of Science Leadership Academy -- a featured school in "Apple in Education" series takes on technology to meta-cognition to empowering students to the role of education. Check it out. Read more
Put Yourself In Our Shoes: "What Would You Do?"
The Question General Motors Asks New Hires Read more
College Grads: Diploma First. Passport Next.
"I don't care where you went to business school. I don't care whether your grades were good or bad. You have to leave the country." Read more
"How Creative Are You?"
. . . .this test is that measures (and values) exactly the opposite qualities that are generally most valued in schools, especially in middle and high schools, where compliance, conformity and rigid adherency to instruction, rules and "what is taught" are rewarded and highly valued . . . Read more
College M.I.A.'s #7
Missing In Action: Not Everyone is College Material -- J.D. Salinger, Harry S. Truman, Steve Jobs, Ted Turner -- Didn't Attend College Or Dropped Out -- "Some of the people coming out of those apprenticeships are in more demand than college graduates because they've actually managed things in the workplace." Read more
A New Conversation With Sir Ken Robinson
"The Problem Is In Order To Get Through This Culture Of Standardized Testing, We Are Standardizing Our Children To Make Them 'Fit The Test'." Read more
TOP VIRAL VIDEO POKES "THE SYSTEM"
Funny and most illuminating. Sir Ken Robinson, one of education's rock stars, WILL transform your view of education. Read more
Ten Lessons For My Daughters
"Take Trips, Girls. Take Chances. Take Off." - Bruce Feiler - The Council Of Dads Read more
Have We Created A Generation Of Followers?
From Over-Praising & Over-Structuring, Have We Created A Young Adult World Fraught With Paralysis and Fear Of Failure? 2 Min. Videos. Read more
A New Way To Look At Teacher Credentials
"Always Learning" We are really impressed with the teachers who are actively initiating and engaged in their own development -- and who are not solely relying on the school for this area of professionalism, or the next formal degree or a development course every five years to "do the job" for them. Read more
Graduation Mash-Up: Reality-Check Time
Three To Read: Sharp Observations On Our Graduating Class Read more
Dear Millennials: Your Parents Lied To You
"You're wonderful, sweetie. Just keep working hard and you can be anything you want to be. Great job!" (soccer mom, 1992) Read more
NYT: "We Have Met The Enemy And He Is PowerPoint"
"When We Understand That Slide, We'll Have Won The War:" General Scott McChrystal Read more
What If We Trained Teachers Like We Trained Doctors?
NPR's "Morning Edition" Questions Teacher Colleges With Lack Of Apprenticeship Read more
Sir Ken Robinson: So Many "Are Prevented From Finding Their True Talents"
Education Processes At Fault. We Must "Radically Transform" Schools. See New CNN 3-Minute Video. Read more
The College MIA List #6: Those Who Dropped Out Or Never Attended
* Read More About the Steve Wozniak Relationship (Rift?) With Steve Jobs, Fellow M.I.A. In This Fascinating Piece From Slate: "The iPad is Steve Jobs' Final Victory Over The Company's Co-founder Steve Wozniak." Read more
COLLEGE MIA'S #4
See The Updated List -Not Everyone Is College Material. Those Who Dropped Out Or Never Entered . . . Read more
Careers In Math And The Sciences? Juggle Deadly Chemicals and Electricity? Rubbish!
My interest was piqued as I presumed I was about to enter the fray debating whether sociopathic, liberal high schools should be allowed to breed their own stem cells, only to find that STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and math. (Humor) Read more
COLLEGE MIA'S #3
Not Everyone Is College Material. See The List Grow: Those Who Dropped Out Or Never Entered . . . Read more
Why We Need Mentors In School & Work More Than Ever
"The young entrepreneurs who are starting companies for the first time are best served by seeking out and getting experienced serial entrepreneurs as angel investors, board members, and mentors.We encourage all of the first time entrepreneurs we work with to do... Read more
Bill Maher: Fire The Parents, Not The Teachers
VIDEO - Did Newsweek Cover Put Maher, A Teacher Union Critic, Over The Edge? Read more
The Creepiest Children's Books Ever
From The "What Were They Thinking?" Department - Over The Top Weirdness Read moreThe true test of intelligence is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do.John Holt, How Children Fail, 1964
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