Sunday, February 26, 2017

School of the Future

In a new age of information, rapid innovation, and globalization, how can we prepare our children to compete? Once the envy of the world, American schools are now in trouble. Test scores show our kids lag far behind their peers from other industrialized countries, and as the divide between rich and poor grows wider, the goal of getting all kids ready for college and the workforce gets harder by the day. How can the latest research help us fix education in America? Can the science of learning—including new insights from neuroscientists, psychologists, and educators—reveal how kids’ brains work and tell us which techniques are most likely to engage and inspire growing minds? What role should technology play in the classroom? Teachers, students, parents, and scientists take center stage as NOVA (American popular science television series broadcast on PBS) explores a new vision for the “School of the Future.”

Friday, February 24, 2017

Opening students' mind

Geoffrey Canada is internationally renowned for his pioneering work helping children and families in Harlem, and as a thought leader and passionate advocate for education reform. From 1990 to 2014, he served as the President and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, which The New York Times called “one of the most ambitious social-policy experiments of our time.”
-- Watch Geoffrey's TED talk "Our failing schools. Enough is enough!"



Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The Power in Education

"We are all connected to succeed, and good leaders do this. Tomorrow's future is sitting in our classrooms. And they are our responsibility. That means everyone in here, and those who are watching the screen. We must believe in their brilliance, and remind them by teaching them that there indeed is power in education."
Nadia Lopez is the founding principal of Mott Hall Bridges Academy, in Brownsville, Brooklyn, one of the most underserved and violent neighborhoods in New York, where she is showing the world how underprivileged communities can beat the odds and create positive institutions that have a global impact. She believes that kids are our future, and it's crucial they believe it themselves. Lopez is encouraged and inspired to see children overcome the "beautiful challenges" of Brownsville and works hard to ensure that they are admitted into some of the most competitive high schools in New York City. She became a viral sensation after one of her students was featured on the popular blog, Humans of New York, where he praised Lopez as the most influential person in his life. In 2015 a HONY fundraiser raised $1.4 million to take Lopez's students on college trips that include Harvard University, Summer STEAM programs and college scholarships. Lopez also continues to impact the lives of children through her "She Is Me" and "I Matter" initiatives, which have served thousands of youth throughout Central Brooklyn by providing workshops, forums and mentoring. In this short, energizing talk Nadia shares how she helps her scholars envision a brighter future for themselves and their families. TRULY INSPIRING STORY.
-- Watch How Dr. Nadia Lopez is Building a Bridge to the Future for Inner City Scholars
-- Watch Mott Hall Bridges Academy scholars visit Harvard
-- Watch Why Principals Matter



Saturday, February 18, 2017

The Pursuit of Belonging

"There is a misconception about belonging. That in order to belong, you have to sort of fit in, assimilate or acculturate... I think that sense of belonging requires us to be alike enough, to share enough in common to find community. But in fact to celebrate the fact that we are different. And those differences are not seen as deficiencies, but in fact celebrated as actual contribution to this beautiful community that we create today..."
Terrell L. Strayhorn is Professor and Director of the Center for Higher Education Enterprise (CHEE) at The Ohio State University. He maintains an active and highly visible research agenda focusing on major policy issues in education: student access and achievement, equity and diversity, impact of college on students, and student learning and development. His research has particular accent on issues of race, class and gender and the experiences of racial/ethnic minorities, college men, economically disadvantaged individuals and other marginalized groups in education.
In this heartfelt presentation Terrell talks about a fundamental need of the student, which isn't tied so much to good grades or money, the sense of belonging.
"The success of this country depends on our ability to prepare citizens for active participation in democracy, and part of that depends on our success in educating current and future generations of students. And their success, their educational success, depends in part on the extent to which we create environments in the home, in the school, in the community where they fit in and they belong."

Friday, January 27, 2017

Want kids to learn well? Feed them well

"When we give our kids the nourishment they need, we give them the chance to thrive, both in the classroom and beyond."
What can we expect our kids to learn if they're hungry or eating diets full of sugar and empty of nutrients? Former White House Chef and food policymaker Sam Kass discusses the role schools can play in nourishing students' bodies in addition to their minds. His work connects nutrition and education in an effort to make sure future generations thrive.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Help for kids the education system ignores

"Let's believe in young people. Let's provide them the right kinds of resources. I'll tell you what my teacher did for me. She believed in me so much that she tricked me into believing in myself."
Define students by what they contribute, not what they lack — especially those with difficult upbringings, says educator Victor Rios. Interweaved with his personal tale of perseverance as an inner-city youth, Rios identifies three straightforward strategies to shift attitudes in education and calls for fellow educators to see "at-risk" students as "at-promise" individuals brimming with resilience, character and grit.
Based on over a decade of research, Rios created Project GRIT (Generating Resilience to Inspire Transformation) a human development program that works with educators to refine leadership, civic engagement and personal and academic empowerment in young people placed at-risk. Rios is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

The power of human connection

Erin Thomas-Foley is the director of education for the School of Performing Arts in Richmond City (SPARC). Over the last 16 years, she has become a major force and key teaching artist behind SPARC, an outreach program dedicated to taking arts education to metro Richmond's schools and youth centers. Her most recent achievements include the creation and direction of LIVE ART, a cutting edge, inclusive arts education program that culminates in a cross-pollinated arts concert, featuring nationally recognized musicians and students from multiple organizations and schools within the Richmond community.
-- Watch "Setting the Stage for Life"





Friday, January 13, 2017

The Power of a Teacher

Adam Sáenz serves as the clinical director of The Oakwood Collaborative, the counseling and assessment clinic he founded in 2003, and is a consultant to school districts and agencies nationally in the area of teacher wellbeing, stress management, and the dynamics of effective relationship building. He believes that educators have power to shape the future by establishing life-changing relationships with their students. VERY INSPIRING TALK.
-- Read From Jail to Harvard: Why Teachers Change the World

Friday, January 06, 2017

Becoming a Better Teacher

Dr. Mariappan Jawaharlal is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Dr. Jawa is recognized as an outstanding educator for his innovative and engaging teaching pedagogy for which he has received numerous honours and awards.
- Read ‘What Do You Think?’ - A Simple Question that can Transform Your Teaching on Huffington Post
- Read Confidence-Building Communication on Huffington Post

Wednesday, January 04, 2017

How to raise an Adult

"My job is not to make them become what I would have them become, but to support them in becoming their glorious selves."
By loading kids with high expectations and micromanaging their lives at every turn, parents aren't actually helping. With passion and humor, Julie Lythcott-Haims, former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford,  makes the case for parents to stop defining their children's success via grades and test scores. Instead, she says, they should focus on providing the oldest idea of all: unconditional love.
Great heartfelt talk.
-- Go to TED talk

Monday, January 02, 2017

The Need For A New Model In Education

"We have to go from what is essentially an industrial model of education, a manufacturing model, which is based on linearity and conformity and batching people. We have to move to a model that is based more on principles of agriculture. We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process; it's an organic process. And you cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish." - Sir Ken Robinson
NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS.