Archive for June 2017
Looking Forward: Advice from a Futurist
Discussions about the future can be somewhat scary. What will the world be like with autonomous vehicles and artificially-intelligent robots running everything? However, Futurist Brian David Johnson shows us the undeniable role humans play in creating and designing their own future, and discusses how we can prepare future generations to be ready to create their…
Read MoreThe Simplest Leverage Points in Reading, Math, & Skills Instruction
In every core domain of learning (reading/math/skills), there is another core element of effective instruction that is so simple, it is often overlooked. However, we ignore these core elements at great expense to our budgets and the eternal frustration of our greatest asset… our students! To be clear, the Success Pyramid still applies. We must…
Read MoreCommon Core: Why It’s the Worst and BEST Thing to Happen to Education!
Very few things stir more controversy than the mention of Common Core. There are numerous complains, but most seem to center on a few common themes: “Common Core doesn’t make sense.” “The math is killing our kids.” “Common Core doesn’t teach American History, Civics, or Government; our children will not have an understanding or appreciation…
Read MoreFinland: A Political Model of Education Reform
Finland: Worldwide Leader in Education More than 30 years ago, Finland made dramatic changes to the political infrastructure of their school system. A generation later, they emerged at the top of the world in international assessments for managing “real-world” situations. They are one of the leading political models to investigate. Finland has created a system…
Read More80/20 in Special Education: How Special Ed Can Create Big Gains With Minimal Effort!
Can You Relate…? You’re a special education teacher (or maybe you know one) sitting in a building-wide staff meeting. In the meeting, the results of your state’s annual, standardized test scores were released. The results are good, except for one segment of students that are not showing enough improvement and thus hurting the school’s overall…
Read MoreIdeal Instructional Models: Successful Examples of Complete Human Education
Education Reform – Part II: Practical Implementations of Complete Human Education In previous articles, we focused on: the core problems of education in the United States, a simple model for effective learning, and how that model helps us resolve our top problems. We also explored how this model relates to special education. From this point…
Read MoreLearning and Soft Skills Empower Special Education Students
Are we aiming to have our students “college ready” OR “career ready?” OR both? If both, do we get them “college ready” first, then “career ready?” These are many of the questions that educators seem to wrestle with on a regular basis as our country works to prepare future generations for workplace success. Let’s cut…
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