I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING…

Twenty years ago, when my oldest son turned five and I had to take a look at the educational system available for my kids, I found it sadly lacking.  I ended up homeschooling my five sons for that reason.  But now I am really in the thick of it.  I’ve got my teaching credential and I’m being confronted by this system in another way.  I no longer just have five kids I’m responsible for… I have 40+.  And I’m seeing the results of the traditional educational system and I want to do what I can to change it because I know there is another way that is so much better.

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When I had to take a class on Common Core…

When I study or teach a topic I like to make sure I also study something contrary to it.  For example, when I teach the Declaration of Independence I also like to touch on the Communist Manifesto.  While I am not equating Common Core with the Communist Manifesto,

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Spotlight in Genius: The Incredibles by Josh Christianson

The Incredibles is one of Pixar’s greatest films. The fact that they’ve only now made a sequel to it 14 years later (and that it did so well at the box office) is proof that people have a deep and abiding love for this kids film about a family of animated superheroes. Maybe it’s how … Read more

Spotlight in Genius: Mr. Rogers

By Joshua Christianson

 

I didn’t really grow up with Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, but I have vague memories of it. I was only 7 when it ended in 2001. It didn’t have a great deal of time to grow on me, but I’m still able to recall the odd respect I had for it. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t animated. It didn’t have aliens, superheroes, or Disney cartoons. Yet I enjoyed it all the same, for reasons I couldn’t understand. Last month an incredible documentary came out which showed me why.

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Winnie the Pooh and The One Thing

My son and I went to see the new Christopher Robin movie last night.  It was so much fun!  On the drive home, we talked and laughed while we went through all of our favorite parts.  And thoughts came to me… and I had to write this down.

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Closing the Achievement Gap

Ellen DeGeneres had a segment of her show on a school in Visalia, California.  The school is in one of the poorest areas of town and definitely fits the definition of an “urban school”.  Ellen included this school on her show because of what the principal was doing for her students.  She had noticed that several of the kids loved dancing and gymnastics and she wanted to encourage their individuality and creativity.  This principal’s overriding goal was to get her students to love coming to school.  She accomplished that by starting a club that encouraged her students’ interests.

I share this story because it illustrates one person’s recognition of “achievement” in others.  One of my favorite quotes is:

“Everybody is a genius.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

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How important is a paradigm?

What is a paradigm?  Is it referring to a “pair of dimes”?  It can’t be important because we don’t use that word much, right?  WRONG.  The word paradigm refers to something really important.  It names something so that you can be aware of it and purposefully change it.

Your paradigm controls your life.  It is that BIG! 

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Charter Schools – Not the villain in my life

If you don’t know me well yet, I want to share my bias right up front.  I love freedom and I am passionate about education.  As of 2017, I have been homeschooling for seventeen years – a combination of those two principles.  So, with that right out front, here is I want to say about charters…

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