Discussing DIY Education with Anya Kamenetz from Antero Garcia on Vimeo. Recently, I talked with Anya Kamenetz via Skype about her new ebook, The Edupunks’ Guide to a DIY Credential. The book is free and offers strategies, resources, and networks that help readers achieve personalized educational goals from creating a learning plan to earning a […]
My browser is overcrowded with tabs of information I want to share here. Instead of focusing on a single example, I want to briefly reflect on three different aspects of the shifting nature of culture in participatory media: community, copyright, and civic engagement. By looking at all three of these, educators can get a quick […]
A couple weeks ago, I got an email from a fellow teacher, Jason Sellers. We’d met several months ago while I was in Orlando for NCTE and he for the National Writing Project’s annual conference. Jason is a high school English teacher in Staunton, IL, a rural high school 45 minutes outside of St. Louis. He’s […]
This New York Times article about search is fascinating. As much as I found the general peek into the power of a company like Google insightful, I think the article points to long-term implications for educators. As we continue to think about the productive world that our teens are engaging within, how students navigate online, […]
We are both storytellers. Lying on our backs, we look up at the night sky. This is where stories began, under the aegis of that multitude of stars which at night filch certitudes and sometimes return them as faith. Those who first invented and then named the constellations were storytellers. Tracing an imaginary line between […]
The last few days before break, Peter* – the tenth grade English teacher & senior Homeroom teacher in our SLC – spent time after school engaged in leading dance lessons. His vision: have all of the seniors of the School of Communication and Global Awareness waltz at their prom in five months’ time. Starting small, […]
I fear that maybe in thinking about counter-narratives and the role of storytelling, I’ve been thinking too small. Maybe we need to start with a macro-vision of life in the classroom. What would it look like for students to develop their own creation myths? In disrupting the “single story” of their neighborhoods and various cycles […]
In the past two days, I’ve received no less than five emails asking me if I’ve seen this article (I have now … thanks to each of you!). Apparently my research interests have been made pretty explicit at this point. In any case, I was reminded of a couple of impromptu lessons I created that […]
After getting an email largely excerpted below, I asked friend and colleague Kate, an elementary school teacher, if I could share her story here. Below, she spells out an exciting activity she conducted, which I’m thrilled about adapting for students that are nearly twice the age of her 10 and 11-year-old students. Enjoy! [Kate’s words […]
This Daily News database of all LAUSD salaries is accurate. If you’re wondering how I feel that anyone can search and find out to the cent how much money I make, I can’t say I’m angry or upset. Frankly, teacher salaries have never been much of a secret. The real value here is peeking into […]