Do you ever stop to think about where you were a year ago? I do. Quite a lot. Because my life seems to change rather quickly.
A year ago, I was just starting a summer internship. I would roll out of bed at 5:42 am, put on a suit and heels, and drive an hour in DC traffic. I was halfway through my masters program. I was working on a novel, although I didn’t tell many people about it. I didn’t know if I could write any fiction worth reading. (more…)
As promised, a few more tips for improving our education system…
4. Change the methods. Sitting and listening to someone talk. Bo-ring. How many adults would actually pay attention the entire time? Now cut that number in half and you’ll have the approximate number of students who are actually paying attention to a lecture. If it’s dull, you better believe their brains are elsewhere. There’s a lot going on for teens these days. They have a lot to deal with. If you want them to be engaged, you need to make it relevant and interesting.
So dump the worksheets. Toss the thirty-minute lecture. And meet your students where they are. Go into their world and make the subject applicable to their lives. (more…)
I have ideas about things. You probably know that by now. I’m a big thinker, a problem-solver. And if you want to talk about a problem that needs to be solved, it’s the education system in the U.S.
We’ve fallen behind our European and Asian cousins, and we’ve stayed there. Not cool. But the powers-that-be seem to be at a loss for how to fix it. We’ve instituted programs that have fallen flat. Money has been wasted. But we’re doing the same thing and expecting different results. How ’bout we change things?
I’m taking my org. management degree and applying it to the education system. I’ve been pondering this problem for a while, and here are a few changes, mostly aimed at high school education, that I think would get us started in the right direction:
1. Pay teachers more. I know, right? Seems like a no-brainer. (more…)