Edu Change & Student Advocacy

     One of the quintessential elements of project-based learning is producing a PUBLIC PRODUCT. Having all of our students produce high quality public work, especially in the 21st century digital world and economy, is truly essential.      First of all, it connects to other of our PBL Design Elements: (a) Authenticity - Having a Public Product makes it more real for students. Making learning real for students makes it authentic, (b) Critique & Revision: Having a Public Product also allows for greater feedback (students, teachers, professionals, experts, community members, employers) opportunities, and (c) Reflection: Having a Public Product allows more people to experience the work of our students, especially with the many digital and online opportunities (more on that later). Showcasing and exhibiting one’s work publicly allows for celebration, but also that necessary skills of being able to articulate and defend one’s learning.     ...

     Part of the challenge - in addition to new standards, tech integration and overall pedagogical overhaul (technical) - is how school looks and feels (culture). With the demands of changing students in a rapidly evolving world, this often gets summarized as personalized education. Again, this is as much related to culture vs. technical. One of the many ways to think about how we re-create the learning experiences for our students at much higher levels could be to UNSCHOOL SCHOOL. In addition to weak or outdated curriculum and instruction, school often SUCKS for our students due to the many daily things that schools do that just make school look and feel even worse. HERE ARE 11 WAYS TO UNSCHOOL YOUR SCHOOL (Why 11? Because it goes to 11) ASK THE STUDENTS….ABOUT EVERYTHING. Ask all students about all aspects of the school and ask them often. Teachers and administrators should survey students regularly (at least several times a year) about their learning experien...

      Let’s face it. If any of us had a nickel for each of the education plans and ideas that have been produced on blogs, tweets and elsewhere in the last few years, I could pay every teacher in America a $2,500 bonus. Right?      Well, what are we going to do? When can we agree that we have a few educational pedagogies and foundations, relevant to our changing world and new economy, that we can identify as where all of us need to go.      My suggestions are this simple: We need to combine the best of project-based learning, career technical education and career readiness, and the best available digital tools and resources. I should be superintendent of the western world right? OK, until then, can we work towards collaboratively calling out the three areas driving it all. How complicated is this? It’s not. PBL, CTE/Career Readiness and Tech really do cover it all. Let’s do this. Here we go: The Pedagogy      ...

     Education may not consistently be good at many things. But, it does seem to be great at both acronyms (CTE, PBL, EDI, ELL, SPED, PLC and so on) and catch phrases (21st century learning, personalized learning, future ready). One of the more popular catchphrases as of late is College & Career Ready.      Indeed, the ‘Career’ part is a more recent addition. For years, we really just said (and lived) College Ready. I’m here to suggest it’s time to drop the College Ready and only use Career Ready. Don’t get me wrong. I do think almost everyone needs some sort of post-secondary training, especially in our new globalized economy. But I am suggesting that we use Career Ready only knowing that one’s career path should dictate their post-secondary education or training path. Additionally, it will allow us to focus on the requisite skills and planning required for young people to have lifelong employability in the 21st century.      One...

     Recently, a group of high school educators in Southern California were placed on administrative leave for their response, via social media, to their students participating in a ‘Day Without Immigrants’ on February 16, 2017. Their school’s students were just part of thousands of students - across the state and nation - that stayed home that day in order to demonstrate solidarity with adults in their communities who stayed home from work to demonstrate the fiscal impact immigrants and immigrant families have on our local, regional and national economies.      Although since deleted, at least five high school teachers and one counselor, posted messages on Facebook celebrating that so many Latino students missed classes that day. These posts included comments about the students being ‘lazy’ and ‘drunk’, or that the cafeteria ‘was cleaner without them.’ (see entire story here: Teachers put on leave for 'Day Without Immigrants' social media posts and ...

     At the end of 2016, we were presented with a different type of story about the end of a semester. Instead of stories about finals, celebrations, grades or even holiday events, we heard a story about “quitting.” That’s right - QUITTING. It wasn’t about an educator quitting either. It was about a student quitting.      Kansas State University Freshman Billy Willson finished his first, and his last, semester right before the end of 2016. In a Facebook post, he announced that he was dropping out, despite having earned a 4.0 grade point average. According to Willson, he was going to start his own business and learn more from that experience than anything he could hope to do at Kansas State, or any other higher institution for that matter.      He simultaneously set off a couple of controversies. One, he ran a photo of himself giving the finger to Kansas State which angered many in the education community who labeled him a spoiled and profan...