Stevemiranda

LATEST ARTICLES ( 270 )

• “Average” is a Concept That No Longer Exists (from the Archives)

  I once had an exchange with a friend in which I suggested that I don’t believe in “playing the game” and settling for mediocrity. A friend responded,... Read more

  Posted on 22 March 2011 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• Why Most Conversations About Education Start with the Wrong Premise (Part 2)

  There are three kinds of high school teachers: “Teachers” merely show up and deliver academic content to students. “Good teachers” show up, take their jobs... Read more

  Posted on 21 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Why Most Conversations About Education Start with the Wrong Premise

  The overwhelming majority of the discussions around fixing our schools happen with the wrong set of assumptions. For the most part, pundits argue about the... Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Wanna Run? You Can

  After graduating from college, I was sure of three things: I had no idea what I was doing, where I was going, or who I was. I had gone from first grade to secon... Read more

  Posted on 19 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Why I Don’t Like the Poem That Everyone Loves (from the Archives)

  There’s a spoken word poem by a teacher named Taylor Mali that has been viewed by millions on YouTube. In the poem, Mali calls out a dinner guest who utters... Read more

  Posted on 18 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• We Don’t Need to Pay Teachers More

  I read the most recent piece from New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof today. He writes, “From the debates in Wisconsin and elsewhere about public sector... Read more

  Posted on 17 March 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Page Design

  As a part of my beginning journalism curriculum, I would teach students the basic elements of page design and give them an assignment: design a four-page spread... Read more

  Posted on 16 March 2011 SCHOOLING

• Fake Diploma

  A friend was giving me a hard time today about PSCS.We don’t require that students earn all the credits necessary for a Washington State high school diploma. Read more

  Posted on 15 March 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING

• Insanity

  There’s an old quotation that I’m sure you’ve read. It goes like this: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting... Read more

  Posted on 13 March 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Field Trip

  When I was a teenager growing up in suburban New Jersey, my first job was working at a convenience store. My primary task was to take all the Sunday... Read more

  Posted on 12 March 2011 FAMILY, SCHOOLING

• “According to My Theory, Kids Should . . . ” (from the Archives)

  In theory, every teenager wants to be a Renaissance thinker: well versed in the arts and sciences, curious about the world’s big ideas, literate in Plato,... Read more

  Posted on 11 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Outsourcing and Automation

  From New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s recent column:Computers, it turns out, can quickly analyze millions of documents, cheaply performing a task that... Read more

  Posted on 10 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Raising the Bar (from the Archives)

  What do young people need to know, what skills do they need to have, in order to be a thriving member of society?It’s an important question for those... Read more

  Posted on 09 March 2011 SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Reforming Our Schools with High-tech Cell Phones

  Today I saw the abstract of an academic paper submitted by Roland G. Fryer, CEO of Harvard’s Education Innovation Laboratory. In “Teacher Incentives and... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Freshman Boxing (and Other Tales of Economic Efficiency)

  At the big public school where I used to work, there was a phenomenon known as “freshman boxing.” I have no idea how it started or why, but at some point... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• The Story of the Photocopier (from the Archives)

  One of my earliest staff meetings as a teacher—this was way back in the fall of 2000—featured a fascinating conversation about a photocopier. Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Push Yourself

  I recently glanced online at the course catalogue at the big public school where I used to teach. It brought back many fond memories of classes that I’d taught... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• School Are Not in the Business of Education; They’re in the Business of...

  I’ve written that traditional schooling offers very little value-add; school serves primarily as a place for kids to go. Once there, the “gifted and talented”... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2011 DEBATE, FAMILY, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• You Can’t Interfere with Destiny. That’s Why It’s Destiny.

  

  I took a story structure class from a local genius named Brian McDonald. He taught me how to identify theme in a screenplay by keeping my ears open to lines of... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2011 PHILOSOPHY, SPIRITUALITY

• What’s the Longest Palindrome in the English Language?

  

  Yesterday, I piggybacked on text from one of my favorite bloggers—Daniel Pink—and today I’m going to do it again. This time I’m leaning on marketing guru Seth... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2011 FAMILY, LIFE COACH, LIFESTYLE, SCHOOLING