Edu Change & Student Advocacy

     One my best friends and colleagues - Jon Corippo - has always described the role of the teacher as a Maker of Kings. He saw his role, as well as that all of all teachers, as one who helped each student become king of their own destiny – or really in charge of their own learning (master learner).      But how does this really work? Well, if one is going to be a Maker of Kings, then one has to first Create Their Own Kingdom. Every master teacher, or teacher leader, that I know has created one’s own kingdom. These teachers have created, and continue to create on a daily basis, a very special place where their students feel safe, feel inspired and feel like they matter.      When it comes to these teachers’ classrooms, or kingdoms, students inherently know that they are going to do something special, do something cool and do something that matters. They know that their interests, skills, talents and selves are going to be ...

      For many reasons, I’m not normally a big fan of universal bans – i.e. calling something completely useless, without value or even counter productive.   Seems like absolutes are often dangerous.   But there are times, when the time has truly come for some things.   I think most of us would agree that areas of human rights, human dignity and freedoms are not something most of us want to compromise on or consider negotiable.         Well, I don’t have anything that is nearly that important or crucial – at least on the global human level.   But maybe, in the world of school and education, there are some things that need to be completely eradicated and declared obsolete.   I don’t advocate burning of things, but have to admit I’m tempted here.       So, as we approach another new year, I’m suggesting that the items on this list disappear forever from the education lexicon: NOTE TAKING (a...

     Anyone in education should know that it’s hard work. In addition to the expectations, demands, versatility and creativity, there is supreme emotional strength needed to survive and be successful.      We’ve all heard over and over since our youth things about ‘hard work,’ ‘early bird gets the worm,’ and more. Like in all professions, there are those that deliver and those that don’t. In some ways, it’s really that simple.      What teachers and educators need to learn is to be a ‘hustler.’ That’s right. Learning and winning with students is a game. Those that learn to play the game, and play it well, will rise above any adversity thrown at them by government bureaucracies, students, parents, colleagues or other.      Again, educators need to become ‘hustlers.’ This doesn’t have to be the negative street connotation, but rather about those that learn that all systems can be mastered, legally and ethically, to...

     It might be hard to find something that has transformed the world more in the last decade than social media. Indeed, governments, corporations, organizations and social movements have been formed, or even transformed, through effective use and implementation of social media.      In education, as usual, we have been slow to understand and ultimately embrace effective uses of social media. Maybe it’s the word social that scares us from the beginning. We are all very aware of the negative activity, topics or images on social media. Indeed, it’s very reminiscent of the early concerns about the internet.      When the web was first available to the public, we heard lots of concerns related to everything from personal security to pornography. And even though those issues were and are real, we also soon realized the potential positive power of the Internet to transform business and economics, shopping, travel, communication and mo...

     With expressions like School to Work, Career Ready and others, it seems like Education is focused more than ever on getting students ready for the world of work. However, hasn’t this always been one of the foundational goals? Yes, there were others such as citizenship, democratic participation, character and more. But working or employment was always part of the goal right? Well, this is both a good and bad thing. How could that be bad? Well, the problem is that many of the Myths of Learning, as I like to call them, come from our historical world of work. And they now seem archaic, outdated and ineffective.      Here are a couple of those myths: LEARNING MYTH #1 – LEARNING IS QUIET. For most adults, and even current students, learning is often associated with being quiet. Our libraries and classrooms are founded on this to some degree. And indeed, there was a time when “quiet” was a foundation at work. When work was being part of t...