Clarence Fisher posted his “Mini-Manifesto for Classrooms 2.0” on his blog yesterday. I’ve been working on a manifesto, too … but on my wiki (so I can keep changing it … plus, I don’t have the time or discipline right now to craft a 500-word-or-less version). I particularly like what he has to say about [...]

Home Schoolers Content to Take Children’s Lead - New York Times
Today’s New York Times carried an article about “unschooling,” a subculture in home schooling where the learning is led completely by the interests of the child.
a philosophy that is broadly defined by its rejection of the basic foundations of conventional education, including not only the [...]

I’ve been reading 2012 and just came across a passage that struck me as particularly helpful in thinking about how and why fiction works. The author, Daniel Pinchbeck, is quoting F. David Peat and discussing the concept of synchronicity, that phenomenon that is usually brushed off as “just a weird coincidence.” Peat says:
It [...]

I don’t always agree with Jay Matthews, and definitely don’t agree with his ranking system that relies almost exclusively on test scores, but I do agree with this comment from his recent article in the Washington Post:
Governors, as well as school board members, do have the power to make schools better, but very few have [...]

These words gave me chills when I read them … and again when I re-read them. Delivered by Bill Moyers to the Council of Great City Schools on October 27, 2006.
Teach your kids they don’t have to accept what they have been handed. Teach them they are not only equal citizens under the law, [...]

I’ve been thinking lately about the difference between teaching knowledge and teaching skills. As the internet changes how we find and use knowledge, it becomes increasingly clear that what we should be teaching are the skills: research, critical analysis, writing, reading a variety of texts, speaking and presenting, etc.
When I hear teachers bemoan the [...]