At Kidzmet, we believe that just as a pre-packaged product is not the ONLY way to cook a dish, nor the ONLY dish we should consume, we cannot continue to think about a pre-packaged standard of intelligence to which we
Have U.S. Students Fallen Victim to Self-Fulfilling Prophecies?
This is a reprint of an article originally published on Cooperative Catalyst I was reminded of an interesting tidbit about the Finnish school system in one of the education news emails I receive the other day. This information has been
YOUR favorite (or least favorite) teacher story
It seems like very few days go by when I don’t hear one story or another about the positive impact a teacher that “got” them made on someone’s life. I also hear lots of stories about unbearable school years where
Appreciating Teachers All Year ‘Round
original article by Jen Lilienstein appeared on LessonPlanet So often, we hear media reports about the negative aspects of teaching and forget that teachers are the people who have made our children’s collective future their life’s work. The next time
Necessity PLAY is the Mother of Invention
I stumbled across our Monsters, Inc DVD last night and one of the key themes replayed in my mind…the realization at the end of the movie that joy/laughter creates significantly more power than fear. I think we need to
On intrinsically motivating students
In late February 2012, EdWeek’s Susan Sandler wrote about Personalization 3.0, or “a hybrid approach of humanity and technology…that uses technology to enhance teacher-student relationships, not replace them.” Sandler references Theodore R. Sizer’s work (late founder of the Coalition of Essential
Smart Reasons to Keep Kids Learning Over the Summer
article originally written by Jen Lilienstein for FamilyShare. For many kids, their mid-July mantra is “lazy”— not “learning.” While summer fun is on the daily agenda, some conceptual calisthenics also needs to make it onto the calendar during July and
Why master teachers are also master marketers
As I speak with principals, assistant superintendents and curriculum directors each day, one of the first questions I always ask is “what is it that separates your superstar teachers from the rest of the pack?” The answer that comes back is