Micro-School Coalition

Tatyana is an actress who you might have seen on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and it’s important to note that she attended, and graduated from, Harvard University.

But what if Harvard wasn’t a good fit? What if she didn’t feel like she could truly explore her passions there?

It’s time we stop pushing our kids into schools and careers that WE think are a good fit for them. Our kids don’t want to take over the family business or follow in our footsteps and attend the school the rest of our family members attended.

Let’s let our kids forge their own paths.

I think this rings true for all children. Starting at birth, we need to give them opportunities to grow and explore, to learn and make choices (and mistakes) so that they can become independent and productive members of society.

This week on the podcast, we explored what this looks like. If you haven’t tuned in already, do that now!

https://educationevolution.org/162

We have classrooms so students can learn in community. Classroom discussions, group projects, bouncing ideas off of one another, interactive learning…all of these help support learning. It’s about community, not sitting quietly in seats.

This is important for our youth and it’s important for adult learners too.

I know a lot of adults who “stay fresh” by doing crossword puzzles, reading books, and taking online courses. But none of these create community among learners.

When was the last time you, as an adult, learned something alongside someone else? A colleague, friend, community group, family member?

Share more in the comments below!

This includes children! All children have the capacity to grow and thrive, but they must have the tools and support necessary for success. They need different ways to grow and learn.

Is your school offering that? If not, have you done something to help?

Without a clear mission for the school, as well as wraparound support for our students, they won’t be as invested in their own education and may opt out. That’s not what’s best for them or our communities.

Wise words to remind us that making mistakes is a natural part of the human experience. Instead of dwelling on our mistakes, we should focus on learning from them and growing as individuals. Let's embrace our humanity and strive to be the best versions of ourselves! 🙌

I recognize the privilege I have as a white person living in the United States. I’m employed, I have a home, I don’t worry about my next meal, and I know that if any of this changes I have loved ones I can lean on for support.

Not everyone is in this position, especially when you look at areas where poverty runs rampant. And children especially in those areas are the most impacted because they have no recourse to try to change their circumstances.

This week on the podcast, I’m sharing part two of a three-part series on the basic human right of education. This week I’m talking about giving back: what that looks like and where to start.

If you’re reading this, you have privilege that so many others do not. Listen in and start thinking about where you can make changes so you can give back.

https://educationevolution.org/157

Every child deserves access to what they uniquely need to succeed. For many, that might mean accommodations in the classroom. For others, that might mean some focused attention in summer school.

This week on the podcast, we’re digging into what this might look like. As you might imagine, it looks different for every child.

https://educationevolution.org/156

As global citizens, we have a responsibility to support education across the world. If you’re reading this, you probably had the privilege of being born somewhere where you had ready and free access to a good education. Let’s work together to ensure that even those who didn’t have that privilege still have the same access.

Listen in to this week’s podcast episode to hear more.

https://educationevolution.org/155

I’ve learned many things in my decades in education and as a parent, one of the most important lessons is that while every child deserves an education they don’t all need the same things.

The path is always different for every one of them. Yes, the path matters. But what’s on that path is even more important.

I don’t think this quote needs much context. Every human deserves an education. It’s the only way we, as a global society, can continue to grow.

My daughters learned so much when we lived overseas, both in the classroom and as we immersed ourselves in different cultures. As 20-somethings now, I think they have more empathy and deeper worldviews than most.

We must teach our kids about other cultures, and not from textbooks. But by allowing them to be immersed in the cultures for more than just a family vacation.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I spent a number of years overseas with my girls when they were young. My daughters had the privilege of being able to attend private international schools in Kuwait, Peru, Hungary, Ecuador, and the Philippines.

If you could go back and learn abroad as a youth OR if you could give your own children the opportunity to live and learn abroad, where would you choose? Tell us why in the comments!

Traveling and living abroad is one of the best ways to learn about other people, cultures, and belief systems. I think the travel I did with my daughters when they were young was instrumental to who they are today.

I’m curious to know…If you could spend six weeks living and learning in any country or city, where would it be and why?

Share more in the comments!

Anyone who has experienced grief knows there’s the pain of the loss and the action needed in creating a new life after grief.

For parents, the pain of losing a child is unimaginable. For children, losing a sibling is like losing a piece of themselves.

Anyone who has spent time in education, as a student, a teacher, a parent, or a legislator, knows that there’s something that needs to be fixed.

The broken cog in one school is different from the next, but the underlying goal should always be to do what will benefit students the most.

What’s the solution? It depends. But I do know that teachers need to be engaged in the change, that parents need to pay attention to more than a school’s ranking, and instruction needs to happen with the students in mind.

Where do you think the first step in school improvement needs to be? Share in the comments!

Every child is different. They have different needs when it comes to their education. How can we, as parents and educators, better serve those individual needs?

We all know how important it is for parents to be involved in their children’s education. Is your school and community giving parents what they need to remove the barriers to involvement?

Of course, nearly all learning was online during 2020 and some of 2021. But if you were in K-12 education, you know the struggles we all went through. Even at the college level, online platforms and teachers struggled to keep students engaged. Many platforms just couldn’t keep up.

Now that we’ve had some time to reflect, we know how vital it is to have robust systems in place to keep learners from simply checking off boxes. They need to truly engage and interact, and that starts with the right learning platform and teachers who are passionate about supporting their students from afar.

It took a pandemic for many educational leaders to take online learning seriously. But we’re here now, and I can’t wait to see the new innovations to come!

Chris really nailed it on this week’s podcast (releasing tomorrow!). Look at where we are in education today. We owe it to our kids to try something different. We don’t have much to lose and everything to gain.

This week, our podcast was all about saying “why not” to life. Why not go on that trip of a lifetime? Why not start that consulting side gig? Why not adopt that puppy? Why not train for that marathon?

So often we’re afraid to step outside the “box” and try something new, simply because we’re afraid of what someone will say or think or maybe we’re just plain afraid.

Let’s challenge one another to say “WHY NOT” in 2023. What’s your big “why not”? Share in the comments!

Have a happy and adventurous new year!

Kids deserve a choice in what they’re learning each day. Sure, there are certain things they need in order to be a productive member of society. But they also need to be excited about learning, and it’s hard to get excited over something that you have no interest in.

What if schools let students own their learning process? How great would that be? That’s what we do at my micro-school, LEADPrep. Is your school doing something similar? Let me know in the comments!

How are you evolving as you work to make changes in the institution of education? Even as we’re trying to make changes outside of ourselves, we need to continually grow and evolve as leaders.

This week on the podcast, I’m sharing what these changes look like for me in 2023. Take some time to reflect and prepare for new growth next year!

https://educationevolution.org/140

There’s always a lot of blaming the challenges in our education system on students and their poor attendance habits. And yes, kids need to be at school. But we’re not really setting them up for success when we teach to the standards, not to our students’ needs.

I believe that attendance is a symptom of a larger issue at our schools and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

So tell me do you believe that attendance is the primary thing we should be concerned about? Or are other issues at play? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Every week we ask our guests to call out an inspirational TED Talk. And while we don’t have exact statistics on how often a talk is mentioned, we can confidently say that we’ve had guests mention Sir Ken Robinson’s talk, Do Schools Kill Creativity, more than any other one.

Have you watched this one yet? It’s sure to inspire!

Do schools kill creativity? Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

I love watching educational leaders have conversations with our youth. This is how we grow young leaders who know that their voice is important.

Watch this week’s podcast guest, Carlon Howard, answer questions from Rhode Island kids about systemic racism. The video also includes conversations with other leaders in the civil rights movement. More of this please!

And if you haven’t already listened to my interview with Carlon, you can do that here: https://educationevolution.org/137

https://www.pbs.org/video/rhode-island-pbs-weekly-2242021-kvrd64/

Rhode Island PBS Weekly | Rhode Island PBS Weekly 2/24/2021 | Season 2 | Episode 208 | PBS Weekly explores racism and the people dedicated to fighting it in all its insidious forms.

November is National Career Development Month. In honor of this, take some time to explore the career tools available (for free!) from the DeBruce Foundation.

And better yet, if you work with youth, have them explore the tools as well. We need to spend more time talking about career pathways with our youth so they can match their strengths and interests to a potential future.

Tools & Resources - Debruce Agilities Check out our free resources for workforce development, interview preparation, and more to uncover your career strengths.

You make so many decisions every day that it’s hard to keep up. In fact, the overwhelming majority of those decisions are made for you, in your subconscious.

So if you want to make changes, how do you train your brain to keep up? This week on the podcast, we’re talking about this and more!

Our guest is Melina Palmer, a behavioral economist and author of the new book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You. We explore what your teachers (and students) need and want and why it’s so hard to put that into words. We also talk about why the Golden Rule is antiquated and why we need to focus on the Platinum Rule instead.

Listen in now!

https://educationevolution.org/135

You can announce at a school that “everyone” is invited to join a club or sport. That’s easy. But that’s not inclusion.

Inclusion looks like inviting them to join, then walking with them to the club meeting and making sure they have the tools and resources they need to be successful.

How often do you think that happens?

This week on the podcast, I’m talking with an educational leader who has made sure that her organization supports all students. They’ve taken down so many barriers to youth being involved in an effort to make sure that all voices are heard.

And while this week’s episode isn’t about inclusion, it certainly could be.

https://educationevolution.org/134

Are you pushing your children? There’s a cost involved, one that well-meaning parents don’t often consider.

Your interest in micro-schools tells me that you want the best for your children. And you’re also aware that a traditional educational system may not work for your child.

I understand because my now-adult daughters also didn’t fit into a mold. But there’s hope. Finding a school and community that recognizes this is the first step. Have you found that yet?

https://lead-prep.org/at-what-cost-are-you-pushing-your-kids