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Why the Best Schools are Party Schools!
I’ll never forget my first experience working at a parent-teacher conference as a young 22-year-old public school teacher in Minnesota. It wasn’t the conversations with parents or students that I remember but one seemingly simple event in the evening…dinner. At this school there was a break for 45 minutes for teachers to eat dinner together in the cafeteria. What a nice idea, right? …it’s not the...
Why Your Kid’s Grades Wont Matter: Part Two
A few weeks back I shared with the education world the provocative statement: Grades are Dead. If you haven’t had a chance to read Why Your Kids Grades Won’t Matter: Part One, I highly encourage you to check it out. Read on for part 2. Now it would be fair to think “Ok, well clearly there are some flaws with the grading system, but since it’s still the standard method, we’re going to stick with A-F...
Why Your Kid’s Grades Won’t Matter: Part One
A few weeks back I received a grade for a class in which I was enrolled for my doctorate. I received a B+ for 95%…that damn curve. At first I was upset. I thought “in what world is a 95% a B+” or “who curves grades anymore?, why is this happening to me?” or “why is the measurement of my learning affected by someone the grade of someone else?” And then it occurred to me: Grades are Dead! Sure...
The Pain of Paying the Stupid Tax
The Stupid Tax | tha st•oo•pi•d taks | noun Definition: Money you end up paying because your inexperience, optimism, or naivety makes you really stupid. Have you ever paid the stupid tax before? After living in a few foreign countries my wife Lisa and I have paid our fair share of the stupid tax around the world. There was the time we booked tickets on two different airlines arriving and departing through Singapore with only a 30...
Five Dangerous Things All Students Should Do
The other week my wife Lisa and I went out on a group date with my older brother and sister and their spouses. Since we all live far from each other this was uncommon, in fact I think it was the first time we’d ever done something like this. At dinner, as you might expect, we started to reminisce about our childhood, doing things that most kids don’t get a chance to do these days, like bike across town without a helmet...
Is Learning the Primary Goal of Schools?
Earlier this week I officially started my doctorate at the University of Hawaii. My parents being oh so proud, keep telling me how they run into my former teachers and love telling them that I am working on a doctorate of education. I think they really enjoy the shock value. Of course, there is some learning happening, but there also seems to be a lot of other. Maybe this is ok, after all communities come together to support...
