I know it sounds radical, but I believe grades do more harm than good. This is not the first time this thought has crossed my mind but recently my kid, who attends our local public high school, had a writing assignment due. The assignment was met with annoyance and eye rolls. It was something to “just get done.” As someone … Read More
Maybe It’s the Environment
What should we do when a child doesn’t want to go to school…ever? The standard approach is to assume something is wrong with the child and to use a combination of incentives and disincentives to get them to go. It feels like there is no other choice–go even if it’s distressing and even at great cost to mental health, well-being, … Read More
Devil May Care
The Learning Cooperatives specialize in helping teens discover what intrinsically motivates them and what their natural talents are. The priority is building strengths rather than repairing weaknesses. However, we’re realistic and know that external motivation can be a practical and necessary part of life. Even in the pursuit of our passions, the reality is that we all are met with … Read More
Libraries, Not Schools
When people first hear about self-directed learning it sounds like a crazy idea–everything is optional; young people have the freedom to follow their interests and decide how to spend their time; no grades, credits, or diplomas, just learning for learning’s sake. It sounds crazy, but it’s not. Self-directed learning is actually quite ordinary, and we have many opportunities and institutions … Read More
Underrated
In the world of education, somewhere between “lecture” and “group project” is an overlooked, misunderstood, crudely-practiced, and often-omitted wonderful little learning method called “modeling.” It’s as simple as it sounds. A “model” of the work desired (a piece of writing, a performance, a technique, etc.) is presented and the learner observes, contemplates, and seeks to imitate in some meaningful way. … Read More
Why Learn Anything?
I’ve been teaching English-ish classes for eighteen years…and that statement pretty much sums up the sort of English teacher I am: the type who gets a kick out of adding the suffix “ish” to a word that already ends in “ish,” not the type who corrects your grammar at dinner parties. That’s also probably why I had such a hard … Read More
Boy, You’re Gonna Carry that Weight
We just went through a wild year. And that is putting it lightly. A pandemic, everything that goes with the pandemic, civil unrest, a riling election, climate disasters, you name it. Weren’t there also aliens at some point? And here we are now, in 2021, still going through it. We’ve all been going through it in our own individual ways … Read More
The Conveyor Belt to Success
Around this time of year twenty-three years ago, I was a senior in high school fretting about applying to college. The whole process was intimidating, but what plagued me the most was that I didn’t know what I wanted to study. I didn’t know that because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, and I didn’t … Read More
A Skatepark is the Best Kind of Classroom
In our last blog post, Katy talked about the challenges of growing up and how we can help kids take risks. The example she gave was about how ordering something from the deli counter can be terribly intimidating, but at some point you have to step up and do it. But of course, the point is not that we want … Read More
Not Your Typical Article on Childhood Play
We value play for the experiential learning…learning about the external world and how to interact with others. This is true and noteworthy, but I wonder about the value of play as a form of self expression and self-discovery.