Category Archives for non-traditional school

Last week I followed a link to Jenkem Magazine’s website and read HOW CORPORATIONS ARE CHANGING SKATEBOARDING AND WHY IT MATTERS. If you skate or are connected to skate culture, you should read it. The author does a great job of pointing out that when mega corporations take over skate brands, profitability is what matters, [...]

What happens when you give a student access to technology and allow them to think creatively about what they are interested in? Jack Andraka, invented a test for pancreatic cancer “that is 168 times faster and considerably cheaper than the gold standard in the field.” That right, a fifteen-year-old who was sitting in biology class [...]

I read two very interesting blogs this past week that deserve reflection. The first, by Dylan Matthews, published in the Washington Post, supports the idea that getting degrees beyond high school and even college is the best way to get jobs in the current economic climate. The second, by Richard Vedder, published in The Chronicle [...]

In a recent article by Sarah Lacy, Peter Thiel—co-founder of PayPal, hedge fund manager, and venture capitalist—presents a case that a college education is not worth what it once was.  The comparison is made to the housing market of 2008, which collapsed because real estate had become significantly over-valued. Thiel makes the controversial argument that [...]

For several years now, American students have been losing ground academically with their peers around the globe, particularly in the areas of science and math[1].  To combat this trend, educational leaders have been developing strategies to emphasize the critical areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  This strategy, named S.T.E.A.M., has had varying degrees of [...]

If you were to try to list 100 ways your life has been impacted by the technological advancements of the past decade, you wouldn’t have a difficult time.  From using our smart phones to social networking platforms, how we work and play has been steadily shifting.  I am especially reminded of this as I do [...]

What’s cooler than hearing stories about people who see a need, have an inspirational idea to meet that need, and then actually do the hard work of making that idea a reality?  This week we recognize two women who have done just that. Debbie Blacher and Samantha Gotlib have impressive credentials, to be sure, but [...]

Good Ideas = High Fives. High 5 This week, we honor Chris Biffle and Whole Brain Teaching for creating strategies to help teachers engage their students.  Chris has scores of videos on YouTube and his website offers great tips for teachers.  My wife is the one who introduced me to Chris’ teaching techniques by sharing [...]

The atmosphere at The Kona School is specifically geared to assist adolescents in their academic and personal development as well as overcome the limits of traditional schools.  Rigid and bureaucratic systems cannot teach all students effectively, primarily because they do not focus on the individual student.  In teenage years, students need close affiliation but experience [...]