Edu Change & Student Advocacy

     As an educator, I have learned a great deal from many sources.   Indeed, it has been a lifelong journey in on the job training , courses, studying, sharing, collaborating and more.         First and foremost, I have learned so much from my students.   In my 23 years, I have been emotionally, spiritually and intellectually inspired, challenged and motivated by the lessons that my students provided.   Whether it was from that first Journalism or English 10 class in 1990 or from the iPad-slinging freshman from the class of 2017, I learn from students everyday.      I have also learned from colleagues continuously.   Educators are a tremendous resource as long as they share with one another, collaborate with one another and keep an open mind.   They are the people who test potentially life-changing ideas everyday with students.   Thankfully, my first principal taught me how to say “yes” instea...

     As we know, education has traditionally been teacher-driven vs. student driven. Whether it was the factory model that we had for decades, or even the high stakes bubble test environment, both students and teachers understood the game. Teachers drove the instruction and learning, while students learned to play the game.      For students, the game was compliance. The more students essentially kept their mouths shut, did the work, completed tasks on time and followed instructions, the better they did. In the end, it was not about critical thinking, creativity, divergent ideas, or anything else related to what we inherently know was “actual learning.”      The problem is that students learned to accept and even perfect this game. Students did not have to invest themselves into their learning. It wasn’t about their ideas, their voice, their choice or their engagement. And as ultimately counter-productive or now out-of-ste...