Stevemiranda

LATEST ARTICLES ( 270 )

• Fixing School Isn’t That Hard. We Just Have to Read What Research Scientists...

  We live in a negative society. We seem drawn towards negative stories in the news. When we get a performance review at work that’s filled with praise, we tend t... Read more

  Posted on 07 December 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• The Importance of Having a Platform for Sharing Your Art

  I was chatting with a colleague last week. She was telling me the story of a friend who is struggling at work. Her friend hates her job, doesn’t get along with... Read more

  Posted on 06 December 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• More Cheating (from the Archives)

  I recently saw a Seattle Times article that started like this:Georgia investigators have found evidence of cheating at close to 80 percent of the Atlanta school... Read more

  Posted on 05 December 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• The Important Difference Between Values and Virtues

  I don’t have a lot of enthusiasm for “school reform,” because it strikes me as insufficient. To reform our schools suggests working around the margins of the... Read more

  Posted on 04 December 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Rise of the Teachers Guild (from the Archives)

  I just finished watching the education documentary Waiting for Superman for the first time.It does a pretty good job at describing some of the challenges... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Judgement (from the Archives)

  After I graduated from college, I needed some space to clear my head. I had reflected on my 17 years of schooling and seen one year blend into another, all... Read more

  Posted on 02 December 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Lowering the Bar (from the Archives)

  A friend said to me yesterday, “I hear some people, some leaders, talk about how not every kid needs to go to college. When you hear someone say that, especiall... Read more

  Posted on 30 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Correlation Does Not Imply Causation (from the Archives)

  I had a conversation today with a friend who recently took a job working for a terrific non-profit organization doing education reform. She’s proud of her... Read more

  Posted on 29 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• It’s Like We’ve Purposely Designed Schools as Engines for Crushing the...

  I tell prospective families at PSCS that our first focus as a school is not on delivering a prescribed academic program. I recently came across an opinion colum... Read more

  Posted on 28 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• What Does Your School Stand For? (from the Archives)

  There’s a great non-profit in Seattle called Rainier Scholars. Its mission is to support 60 young students of color each year on a path through middle school an... Read more

  Posted on 23 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Apprenticeships and Internships

  In the old days, young people served apprenticeships with elders as a way of mastering a craft.Now, young people try to land internships. Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• How to Teach Students to Kickstart New Ideas

  I was hanging out with a friend, a scientist who thinks a lot about teaching and learning. He has taught in the Honors college at a nearby university, and has... Read more

  Posted on 21 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Zero Point Zero (from the Archives)

  One of the first things I did after my son was born (seven years ago) was begin planning his education. I was teaching at a traditional public high school... Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• The Most Important Question a Teacher Can Ask a Student is . . .

  I was chatting with a colleague from another school today. I suggested that the way to radically improve education is not to focus on more clever ways to delive... Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Legacy Institutions, and Why the Bureaucracy Always Comes First, and the Student...

  I visitor came to PSCS today and used a phrase I’d never heard: “legacy institution.”He said, “You get these legacy institutions that are designed to first serv... Read more

  Posted on 17 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Don’t Students Need Someone to Push Them?

  I was chatting with a friend today about the school where I work, PSCS. We do not require students to tackle a prescribed academic program.“Without someone... Read more

  Posted on 16 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Now, We Make Projects (from the Archives)

  Earlier this year, I had the privilege of sitting in on a Q&A with Seth Godin, who engaged with a small audience for three hours. He said a lot, but made on... Read more

  Posted on 15 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• The Problem Comes When We Spend Our Days Trying to Prepare Kids for What Comes...

  I got a peek at my seven-year-old son’s report card, issued by the local public school district. It’s a curious document.It contains an elaborate assessment... Read more

  Posted on 14 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• The 20th Century Was About Mass. The 21st Century is Not (from the Archives)

  A friend recently asked me, “Pretending there are no obstacles in the way, draw me a picture of what a re-invented school would look like.”In my experience, thi... Read more

  Posted on 13 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• The Race to 18

  

  PSCS’s director, Andy Smallman, read my blog posts from earlier this week about required classes. He sent them out the PSCS parent community, and it generated... Read more

  Posted on 11 November 2011 DEBATE, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY