On this journey I wanted to visit a wide range of schools to find out what innovation means across the board. This post will be different from all the rest in many ways. At the start you will be depressed that education can still look like this in America. Don’t dare stop reading. The definition [...]
One of the precepts for my journey is that both private and public education have much to offer in terms of innovation for the future. They face different challenges in terms of funding, politics, value proposition, and demographics, but learning is not public or private, it is learning. Already in the last two weeks we [...]
Around my house, “old school” is one of the great compliments we can give. We are a volleyball family, and the best player in the history of the game (and new coach of the USA women’s team) is Karch Kiraly, who defines “old school” volleyball: good at every position, great at the basics, and willing [...]
Normally, good neighborhoods mean good public schools, and the opposite is also the norm, especially in a state like Missouri where public education is funded through local taxes, and not redistributed by the state. So it takes something heroic to run this process in reverse, for a school to help raise up a struggling community. [...]
Any educator interested in truly experiential learning could easily spend a week with Sheila Gurley and her team at The College School, a 260-student preK-8 in St. Louis. I am only going to be able to hit the highlights, but if you want to know how and why schools of the future are alive and [...]
Warning: synthesis ahead. I am going to give the punch line both here at the beginning and then at the end: as we all try to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world, we must remember to give equal priority to that which does not change in our world. The garden at St. [...]
At the risk of being redundant for those who have read my blogs in the last week…wow. I visited the Barstow School in Kansas City for five hours yesterday, and I feel this is a school bent on regional, national, and even international leadership. If you have interest in global initiatives, technology, or hybrid/blended learning, [...]
Taking advantage of sitting at the Toyota dealership in beautiful Hays, Kansas as they replace something called in inverter cooling pump. $600. Catching up on blog reviews, and here is one that caught my attention from Nilofer Merchant. Ms. Merchant argues that we have entered a post-Information Age paradigm, shifting from decision-making based on enhanced [...]
Ever since I left college I have wanted to do four things: work with truly talented people; solve tough problems; create elegant solutions; and make a difference in a meaningful cause. I would have found all four at the Denver Green School. Denver Green School: sounds like a focus on environmental sustainability. Check. But there [...]
I am going to write twice about St. Anne’s Episcopal in Denver, one today to review a truly fascinating class that I sat in on, and one later this week or this weekend. I need time to reflect on the very thoughtful discussions I had with Head of School Alan Smiley and others about how [...]