Here is some food for thought from Seth Godin on how social networking can help us organize. His main point – the side in an argument that is better organized usually wins. Whether your issue is education reform, textbook and software adoption, privatization, highly qualified teachers, NCLB, or any of…
A family member – who works in a Texas middle school – forwarded this bit of wit and wisdom to me today. A teacher dies and goes to Heaven. When she gets there, she meets Peter at the pearly white gates. Peter says to her, ‘Welcome to Heaven. Let me…
An instructional monoculture is a world where all children are expected to learn the same things, the same way, at the same time. Are we building instructional monocultures in our schools? By we I mean publishers, policy makers, and district level decision makers. The forces of conformity are driving hard…
Tom Chapin’s satirical song “Its Not On The Test” is worth a look. Even if you are a fan of No Child Left Behind this issues he raises need an answer. I particularly like the jab at shout TV which reduces all discourse to name calling. Education reform is a…
In Japan novels are serialized for cell phone delivery and published as dead tree editions only after they are hits. John Rice has a great post on on this at his Educational Games Research blog. While this works because of Japan’s rather unique commuting environment the central point that any…
A retired construction worker has solved the mystery of how Stonehenge could have been constructed using wood, sand, and gravity as his only tools. I’m a nerd for this kind of stuff – I think this is so cool. One man, an obscure passion for moving heavy things, and an…
Every 2-3 months I share the new (to me) tunes that have been getting heavy rotation on my iPod. This mix has a bit of everything – Dylanesque folk from Old Crow Medicine Show, the tube amplifier hum of Eels, Guy Forsyth grinding out blues, Linkin Park speaking out, Johnny…
I’m thankful that I get to work in a business that actually means something in this world. When we do our jobs well good things happen for teachers and kids. Thanks to my friend and mentor Peter Lycurgus for giving me the nudge in this direction 18 years ago. I’m…
Busking teaches fundamental business concepts. As a young man I saw the world by tossing open my banjo case and belting out a few tunes. I played in Boston, Montreal, Tokyo, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seville, New Orleans, and Amsterdam to name just a few spots. Along the way…
Information Overload is a serious problem in our culture today. People are frustrated and overwhelmed by the fire hose of information they are trying to absorb. But, as the American Philosopher Ann Landers was fond of saying: “No one can take advantage of you without your permission.”In summary: Personally we…