Dr. Nicholas Tampio is a Professor of Political Science at Fordham University who recently wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post about the importance of play in K12 education as we begin to plan for the summer.
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Mike is joined by Cara Lesser. CEO and Founder of the KID Museum in Bethesda, Maryland. Cara starts by describing how she transitioned from working on healthcare policy to growing interested in education as her children entered school. Inspired by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, she sought to create an institution dedicated to what she felt was lacking in her children’s education: creative, hands-on problem-solving.
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Jeremy Keeshin is the CEO and Co-founder of CodeHS, the leading coding education platform for schools used by millions of students. He joins Mike for this episode to talk about his new book Read Write Code. We begin with Jeremy’s origins teaching computer science while at Stanford before founding CodeHS and becoming an expert in computer science education and education technology, visiting hundreds of schools all over the world.
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Geoff and Skye Marietta join Mike to discuss their book, Rural Education in America. We hear the Marietta’s story from rural roots, to meeting at Teach For America in the Navajo Nation, to Harvard Yard and then finally to Harlan County, Kentucky, where Skye and family have deep roots. We look at how rural America is perceived both from the outside in and also from the inside in as we learn the critical role education plays in knitting together rural communities.
Read MoreLindsey Dixon and Julissa Baez from The Urban Assembly join Mike to talk about Postsecondary Readiness, Workforce Pathways, and the Future of Work. We hear Julissa and Lindsey’s origin stories and learn what drives their passion to make a positive impact on students and families overcoming poverty and striving for social mobility. We explore how to move work readiness programs further upstream into high school and K12 to ensure graduates are making smart decisions planning for the careers of the future.
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James Nottingham is the Co-Founder of Challenging Learning and is the Creator of the Learning Pit, a program that he founded in 2003 to encourage students to get out of their comfort zone. Since then it has scaled across the globe to millions of educators and learners who have grabbed hold of its message of inspiration.
James joins Mike to explain how this all got started with his experiences as a troubled student, which allowed him to connect his experiences to those of students who are beginning to grapple with the discomfort that comes with pushing yourself to learn more and become more. We talk Vygotsky, desirable difficulty, and other related concepts from learning science in the context of real-world experiences and examples as we help James spread the word about the power of embracing challenging learning and the ideas behind the Learning Pit.
Read MoreBrian Tobal is the CEO of SchoolHouse, an education company that provides a home to microschools led by outstanding educators. On this episode, Brian joins Mike to tell the story of the series of successful education ventures and initiatives that he’s embarked on through his career. We conclude by diving into what led to his joining SchoolHouse to lead them through these tumultuous times.
Read MoreHoward Blumenthal joins Mike on this episode about reimagining school for the future. Howard is best-known work is Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?, which he created and produced for PBS. Nowadays, Howard’s keen interest is in growing up in the 21st century; what children and teenagers learn, and how they learn; global citizenship; social change; and human progress. We explore his big picture thinking about media/technology, behavioral change, public good, and international relationships as we dive into his founding of Reinventing School earlier this year. We also touch on his work with Kids On Earth.
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Zach Silverzweig is the CEO and Founder of TinyIvy, a startup that is focused on helping children and families learn to read English. Zach joins Mike in an exploration of why learning how to read English presents unique challenges and how the TIPS system developed by Zach and team helps make things better. We begin with Zach’s origin story before diving into the complexities of English language learning. By adding unique diacritical symbols to letters to clarify pronunciation rules, the team at TinyIvy has borrowed insights from other languages to help crack the code on learning to read English.
Read MoreIn a Special Fall 2020 K12 Education episode, Mike is joined by Sarah Darville, Matt Barnum, and Kalyn Belsha from Chalkbeat to talk through trends they’ve been seeing while reporting on K12 throughout the challenging year that is 2020. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization committed to covering one of America’s most important stories: the effort to improve schools for all children, especially those who have historically lacked access to a quality education.
Read MoreThis week, Mike is joined by Prakash Nair, the Founder of Education Design International (EDI) and author of Blueprint for Tomorrow from Harvard Education Press. Prakash describes how the design of K12 schools can and should be completely rethought. School buildings and their institutional designs contribute to a “cells and bells” culture that stifles learning, creativity, and joy.
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