The Discomfort Zone

A 21st-century Model for Education

It’s Time for a New American Revolution
Part 2: American Democracy Grows Up
Part 3: The Future of Democracy

The Common Sense Party: principals and platform

My old blog can be found here: http://schoolboardbloggerhutch153.blogspot.com/

Dec. 19th: Public opinion: Constructive dialogue;
Equitable Class Discussions? The Art of Conversation;
School Just Isn’t Relevant. Audience Deliberations;
Finland’s whole child development;
FCS for a modern workforce; Nurturing creativity;
Data & Evidence; Teachers & Lockdown Drills;
Sex & Gender; 8 Translation Blunders;
Advice from The Archangels;

Dec. 12th: The looting of America; Tariff Hikes Price of Bible;
How the Ivy league Broke America; The Gender Gap;
The Tech Industry’s Playbook; A.I. Defeats Doctors?
Teachers Need better PD; 7th grade media literacy;
Students Help Hire Principal. A Culture of Collaboration;
Overhaul civics ed? Schools Should Ask Themselves;
The value of Student Newspapers? Standardized testing?
Trump voters focus group; The Case for Christian Socialism

Dec. 5th: Reich on Trumpism;
Why the Dems lost;  Moderation Isn’t Surrender;
The Dems Empathy Problem;
Election update (mine);
Haidt on the Past 10 Years; ‘Age Gating‘.
Relevance in the era of distraction;
Ed. Dept. Principles for Cellphone Policies!
Smartphone Rules; Student essay on Critical thinking class;
What Jesus Actually Said?

Nov. 21st: Why Trump Won?
Improving DEI; How to Stand Up for DEI. DEI Balance?
We Still Agree on More Than We Don’t;
Developing Civic Character; School Vouchers For All?
Mathematical Thinking; Math in Preschool;
Building Math Curiosity; Require Media literacy:
Kareem on Bottled Water; Is sexual identity new?
Transgender Common Sense; Christian beliefs about sex;
“Christianity” Is Not The Religion of Jesus

Nov. 14th: My conversation with Nathan Romig
Libertarianism; Affordable Housing

Nov. 7th: Hard Truths;
‘In Demand’ Jobs; Raising Resilient Children;
The Next Generation of Voters; Give students power;
Students Talk About Abortion, Trump v. Harris…
Lessons from Switzerland: Workforce Prep in 1st Grade?
This School Didn’t Like Traditional Grades.
How Should High School Change? Teacher Prep Needs to Change.
3 Terms to Rethink in Education; 4 Principles for Effective Teacher PD;
Paterno on Paterno; Muhammad Ali

Oct. 31st. Pre-Election Jitters; Jimmy’s Monologue;
Not ‘fascist’ – demagogue. The Archangels on the Election;
Build a Lifeboat; Do they teach civics anymore?
What Makes Us Fall for AI Misinformation?
Integrating SEL Into the Classroom;
The Netherlands are closing prisons.
Crime and homelessness. Helping Classmates Get Along.
Critical thinking? Give opportunities for input;
The Cost of Standardized Testing;
Even in Academics, Focus on Workforce Skills;
George: What is the purpose of school?

Oct. 24th: Elections are Too Long.
What Liberals Miss About MAGA; social-injustice-advice;
Why Isn’t She Running Away With This?
a Closing Argument?.
What’s Wrong With Donald? The Case for a New Civics;
Ask 4th Graders No, really.
A Focus on Workforce Skills;

Oct. 17th: Ensuring a Sense of Belonging;
How schools address mental health.
Collaboration Promotes Deeper Learning.
Students Feel Less Connected; Tim Walz, SS teacher;
Presidential campaigns are not real life.
Why Can’t Harris Just Say This?
Reich on The Roots of Trumpism;
heathercoxrichardson
They Still Won’t Say They’re Sorry.
Democrats reclaiming patriotism;
Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes; A Letter to Neale

Oct. 10th: w/ Dr. Seria Chatters
We Need a New Approach to D.E.I.

Sept. 26th: w/ Terry & Isaiah Watson
Sending Unarmed Responders Instead of Police:

Sept. 19th: The Tariff Debate;
The Media Sanitizes Insanity;
The mainstream press is failing;
How Schools Survive Polarization;
Thinking in Math Class; Student Agency;   
5 Things Teachers Need to Know;
8 Steps to Revolutionize Education;
The Practitioner-Policymaker Divide;
What Is ‘Critical Thinking’?
Ask Teens “Who’s Your Future Self?” 
Does Diversity Training Work?
Unions: the Best Way to Power?  Work Is Divine.

Sept. 12th: The Fix for Social Security?
The Antidote to Shareholder Capitalism? Start With School Lunch.
Cellphone Bans Aren’t the Cure; A Cure Hiding in Plain Sight;
We Might Miss Wokeness; D.E.I. Isn’t Working;
LGBT w/o the “Community”; The ‘Junkification’ of America;
You’re spending too much on shampoo;
I Swore Off Air-Conditioning;
Why People Aren’t Having Kids; Why Men Are Drifting to the Right. Less Selective Moral Outrage?

September 5th: w/ guest Vicki Fong, of Constitution Day Centre.
Students Learn to Disagree Respectfully;
Teachers Tackle Election Discussions;
The Brain Science of Outrage

August 29th: Young People Exercising Their Voice?
Making Race Skin Deep; Trump’s Evangelical Supporters;
The Made-Up Crime Wave; One Party Is ‘Anti-Family‘
The Speech You Didn’t Hear at the DNC;
In PD, Less Is More.  Boosting Student Connection;
Safety Risk or Civic Duty? We’ve Been Here Before;
The Daily Cartoonist; Intellectual Humility

August 22nd: The Psychology of Destroying a Planet;
You’re as Smart as Your Emotions. About ‘Liberalism’;
Alternatives to Reform; Instead of Police;
A Luxury Prison? Another way to create safer schools;
Black Teachers Impact All Students;  
Can Civics Ed Safeguard Democracy?
Digital Citizenship; Better Than Success? 
From Fear to Love: Neale On ‘Right & Wrong‘  
Do What You Can Do

August 15th: Should Religion Be Taught in School?     
Should We Teach the Bible? To My MAGA Relatives: 
Not the Way to Be a Man;  What You Do/ What You Preach; 
Therapy for Our Anxiety Epidemic; 
Don’t Ignore Polarization in Classroom;
Constitution Day 2024;  Let Kids Be Weird;
Music & Student Mental Health; Kamala & the FTC;
Economic growth is not always good; 
The physical universe: a by-product of consciousness?
Happiness & Love;  You are rational & objective?   

July 25th: Robert Putnam: Why You’re Lonely;
Our students need civics; Finish the Job?  
America’s civility crisis; Media Literacy Is Essential;
School Belonging & long-term Mental Health;
Cell Phone Bans:  
An Insoluble Problem? Reinventing Report Cards:
Sex and Spirituality; 28 Minutes In Hell;

July 18th:
Americans are getting ‘pursuit of happiness’ wrong; 
The Source of Trump’s Appeal;
Your Driving App Is Leading You Astray; 
We Need to Better Understand Cellphone Addiction.
What Kids think of School. Students Speak Out:  
Do Violence prevention programs keep kids safe? 
How to Kill Student Curiosity in 5 Steps;
The Mental Shifts That Helped Me Teach My Kids;  
What caused the American obesity epidemic?
Joke Swap Reveals a Lot About “Woke Culture”  

July 11th: The Case for a 4th of July Seder;
The Center Must Hold; Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly; 
Tending the ‘garden of democracy’;
Mr. Rogers on Teaching Civics;
Student Essay on Critical thinking; 
A model training program for first responders:
Schools Need a Basic Food Class.
When Teaching Math, Concepts Matter More; 
The Archangels on Leadership;

June 27th: America’s Top Export:Anxiety?
This is your brain on screens;  About AI in Schools;  
Love Matters in the Workplace;  
It’s Time for a New American Revolution

June 20th: How to Fight Fascism?
Americans approve of DEI;  Chicago’s Community Schools. 
The End of ‘College for All’?  
Give Every Student a Reason to Attend;
Assessing Creative Thinking; Better Questions in Math Class;
A-21st-century-Model-for-Education

June 13th:
Margaret Chase Smith,1950; Bill Clinton, 1997;
Play Is Essential;  Playful Assessment; 
Symbolic Violence;  The New American High School;  
Portrait of a Graduate:  Team Teaching;
Why Schools Don’t Teach Critical Thinking;
Better Questions in Math Class. Woodstock

June 6th: School Leaders on DEI; The K-12 DEI Rebrand; 
My conversation with Dr. Seria Chatters!

May 30th: The Storm Before the Calm;  
Where Americans Aren’t Divided on Education.     
The Beef With Lab-Grown Meat; 
The Cruelty of the US Legal System; 
Giftedness as Neurodivergence;  
The Pop Songs You Hate Are Good for Democracy; 
Does School Choice Work? 
How DEI Rebranding Is Playing Out in K-12. 
Improving Behavior w/o Shaming;      
8 Steps to Revolutionize Education. 
Keep Schools Safe: Involve Your Community; 
Standards-Based Grading Empowers Students;  
It’s Time for a New American Revolution

May 23rd: Jerry Seinfeld’s Speech;
More graduation advice;  
Antisemitic Tropes & Support for Israel;  
On the partisan divide: Soviet Life & Censorship; 
Making History Exciting;   The culture in Finnish schools;    
Attracting Gen Z to Teaching; 
Could All Education Look Like Project-Based Learning?  
The 3 ‘Cs’; Managing the K-12 Culture War Debates;  
Music vs. Lyrics. Are We Capable of Changing Our World?  
The Age of Aquarius;

May 16th: My monthly conversation w/ Dr. Carline Crevecoeur
From the Center for Mental Health in Schools & Student/Learning Supports at UCLA. 

May 9th: Friedman on Campus Protests;
McWorter on the Protests;
Teaching about Israel & Palestine;
Frank on Mindless Chants; Philosopher Larry David;
When Principals Listen to Students;
The Main School Ingredient; Ridiculously Large Cars;
When Fear Mixes With Money; Neale on Pyschics

May 2nd: Protect-don’t idealize-the Protesters;
About Right-Leaning Parents;
Help students to respectfully disagree.
A GOP and a Demconfront our era of bad vibes.
The ‘Manosphere’ Is Toxic. Addicted to Toxic Masculinity.
Everything is a Game. About the federal debt.
It costs more to live near a good school.
Digital wellness class for 6th graders.
A Universal Prevention Measure: We Get Signs All the Time;

April 25th:
The most important thing I teach my students;  
How to talk about Israel & Gaza;
Space to discuss tough topics; Where gun violence is common;
More Law Enforcement Is Not the Way;
What if O.J.’s Trial Happened Now?
Teachers: What’s Hindering Learning; Teachers Sound Off;
Poland’s rules against homework; Creating Classroom Culture.
Using Religion to Control Others

April 18th:
My monthly conversation w/ Dr. Carline Crevecoeur
Oblivious About Grades.    

April 11th: Eliminating Letter Grades?
Reimagining Mathematics (to Save the World);
History Is Boring? Glenn Loury on Derek Chauvin;        
The Problem w/ ‘Sex Assigned at Birth’
What Jodie won’t Ask the Angels.. Why Religion Doesn’t Matter.  

April 4th:
Refocus on Civics, for the Good of the Country;
Agreement on Civics Ed;
All-School Meetings & Student Voice;
Teens on the Election;
Most Americans are Pro-Democracy;
AI & Civics Ed; Oblivious About Grades;
The End of Foreign-Language Ed?
Dairy’s Unintended Consequences;
Cyber charter funding reform;
A Message from the Archangels;

March 28th: my monthly interview w/ Dr. Carline Crevecouer.
The Delta controversy; standardized testing

March 21st: Changing the response to mental health calls;
Town Meetings: Democracy Embodied.
End Phone-based Childhood;
Innovative High Schools; Standards-Based Grading;
The Challenge of GPAs & College Admissions;
America Fell for Liquid Death

March 14th:
Americans Want the Immigration Bill Congress Won’t Pass;
60 Minutes & Moms for Liberty;
Teacher-Parent Communication;
Sotomayor & Amy Coney Barrett;
Nobody Wants to Look Stupid:  
Teacher Hiring Process;  
Preparing Teachers for today’s school climate.
Teacher-Parent Communication;
Making Math Meaningful;          
Playwright Michael R. Jackson;
The Original Lord’s Prayer

March 7th: The supermajority for democracy
What Standardized Tests Actually Measure;
Restorative Practices in School;
“We used a behavior chart on adults” On Prioritizing school culture;
International Baccalaureate Ed; 5 Myths of Self-Awareness; 
Plastic makers lied about recycling; Ultra-processed foods & health:
Habits From Living in Japan; When Does Life Begin?

Feb. 29th: Is Education Optimizing The Wrong Outcomes?
On Traditional Grading; What Teachers Learned.
Why We Don’t Want To Be Wrong;
Hiring For Learning Potential. On Mental Health in School;
Discontent w/American Education;
Beyond the Classroom; Black Parents on Black History;
Teens Divided — Like Their Parents. OK, Boomer:
Embedding conflict resolution in the classroom;
A Way To Understand the Bible; The Cure for Democracy.

Feb. 22nd: . Too much math?
Forget Memorization? Math is Figuraoutable;
Do we Want Our Kids to be Critical Thinkers?
History isn’t pretty; Diversity Increases Success;
AI Makes Humanity More Important;
What does successful education reform look like?
A vision for education; Take the Risk out of Failure.
What Abbott Elementary Gets Right;
Americans Think About Safety Wrong;
How to Block Out the Noise; Reich on Countervailing Power;
Jay Paterno on College Football; Jodie on Yeshua

Feb. 15th: Why math needs to change;
“HS math doesn’t prepare students for college”
Are-students-getting-the-math-they-need?
Community schools; Talk Is Literacy;
Reducing Cultural Conflict; The great education heist;
Don’t ban cellphones? “Why Do We Have to Do This?”
On fixing a snowblower; On ‘Equitable’ Grading;
Our outdated educational system; Rigor or Vigor?
Black Moms Want School Choice; Progressives & Choice:
Greene on Cyber Charters; The Archangels on the Bible;
Take the Bible Literally? 10 Things We Forgot About Jesus;

Jan. 18th: Reining In the Vouchers; Inequitable school funding;
Superintendents frustrated over standardized tests;
PA’s Keystone Exam Circus; Beyond the Carnegie Unit:
Tackling School Absence; Norway’s Prison System;
Why are bullies so mean? Relationships matter in education;
Helping Teachers Love Their Jobs? Transforming High School;
Arts education builds better brains; Growing Prosocial Brains;
“Math is Useful -and Boring”; Cultural Appropriation ‘Outrage’
Einstein’s Advice; A Letter to Neale;
You’re Not Entitled to Your Beliefs;
The Archangels Comment on the Bible; War is never good;
Ten Things We Forgot About Jesus; On Hotel Showers

Jan. 11th, 2024: Civics Is About Skills.
Teaching social studies in a polarized world;
About DEI; The closing of the teenage mind;
Teaching positive psychology skills;
Can Everyone Be Excellent?
News literacy; Reinventing High School;
I Don’t Really Have an Opinion About That.
The Myth of the Market; Freedom & Power;
Portrait of a Graduate; The reason for SEL;
“I Don’t Pledge Allegiance”

Dec. 22nd: Reset how we teach civics in America;
Couros: Moving Forward with the Best Idea;
Learn to Talk to Each Other: 4 Tips for Schools;
What It Will Take to Leave No Child Behind;
Americans (mostly) agree on How History Should Be Taught;
Teens Want Schools to Teach More About Climate Change;
We’re talking about climate change all wrong;
The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2022;
Media Literacy Starts in Kindergarten;
Carnegie: Ditch the Carnegie Unit;
Google Considers the ‘Future of Education’;
What will it look like when we arrive?
‘Portrait of a Graduate’ Persuasion, Not Vilification;
Critical Conversations About ‘SEL’
‘White Accountability Groups? Conversations with God…

Dec. 8th: A conversation with my good friend, Jim Leous
The Old Main chimes; A 21st-century vision for education

Dec. 1st: Bendapudi’s message on racial inequity;
We Need to Do Something About Civics Education;
Overhauling the Industrial-Age Paradigm;
Reinventing the school ‘assembly-line’ model;
School District of the Year; The root of math phobia ;
Student-Led SEL; Cultivating ‘Wise Freedom’ in Middle School;
Why Students Make Weird Assumptions;
Improving PE to prioritize student motivation;
Competency-based education;
What should we teach in public school?
Want well-adjusted kids? Let them play;
Climate education can inspire students;
When monopolies crash and burn; Tips from Marcus Aurelius

Nov.17th: The Political Press Needs a Time Out
Polarization Is a Misdiagnosis;
How to Respond to CRT Complaints;
Afghanistan Did Not Have to Turn Out This Way;
Pleasure Based Sex Education; What Is Toxic Masculinity?
Can We Shape Our Sexual Desires? Traits of Actual Masculinity;
Marketing Is Still Sexist; Straight People Need Better Rules for Sex;
Are LGBTQ Lifestyles Sinful?

Nov.10th: 50 things Americans agree on;
Welcoming-Conservatives;
Fostering Civil Discourse in Schools (p.16);
What is a Restorative Justice Framework?
Restorative Justice in schools;
Teacher-Led School Innovation;
The riot that started the culture wars;
7 Things Sex Ed Should Have Taught Us;

Nov. 3rd: We Are Programmed to Believe Nonsense;
What Passes for News; “I’m a student at an underfunded school”
“I Don’t Care About the NAEP Scores”
Raising Student Voice to Build ‘Connections’;
Building a Unified School Culture;
How Should Educators Respond to Parents?
Middle Schoolers as Deliberative Civic Actors;
Preparing Students for a World that No Longer Exists;
Beyond Zero-Sum Schooling; The Power of Character Education;
Big Tech Is Co-Parenting Our Children; The Enemy Inside Us;

Oct. 27th: My monthly conversation with Dr. Carline Crevecoeur
More things educational; the SCASD Inclusive Excellence Policy

Oct. 20th: Barack Obama’s Lost Manuscript;
The Right Is Right; Something Is Wrong With Our Schools;
The Real Cause of Inflation? The Placebo Of Affirmative Action;
We Must Change the Systems Students Learn In;
Leading in a Dramatically Different Way;
‘White Supremacy Culture’ in Math Class?
The Beautiful Applications of Calculus; Against Algebra?
The Value of ‘Street Level’ Data; The Goal of Civics Education;
Teaching ‘Culturally Responsive’ Social Studies;
Why Historical Ignorance Matters;
William Shatner’s Trip to Space

Oct. 13th: A conversation with Dr. Seria Chatters,
including some advice for her former school district, and their next Director of Diversity

Oct. 6th: School security v. positive student outcomes;
The connection between polarized thinking & anxiety;
The Crisis of Men and Boys;
20 Years Ago, NCLB Kinda Worked; The Need for Meaningful Data;
A Marshall Plan for Teaching; The Dangers of ‘Feedback’;
The 3 myths of the ultra-wealthy;
We’re Subsidizing The Threat To Democracy;
The Little Mermaid Remake is Not Quite Right;
The World of Keanu Reeves

Sept. 29th:
Kids and gender: we have to (be able to) talk about it;
What Has Come Between LGBT and Free Speech;
The Reason Men Frequent Strip Clubs;
Math Is the Great Secret;
Math for Future Scientists Requires Statistics, Not Calculus;
The Role of College Admissions in K-12 Math;
Can VR Help Schools Teach Math? A Better Way to Learn Your ABCs?
Why new sex ed standards led districts to opt out;
How to wake up Americans about climate change;
To Incite Lasting Change, Build Stronger Relationships

Sept. 22nd: How the American middle can unite our country;
The Sex Ed. Battleground Heats Up;
We’re Teaching Consent All Wrong;
The case for starting sex ed in kindergarten;
‘Checking out My Breasts’ Is Not the Problem!
How Early-2000s Pop Culture Changed Sex;
Where Sex Positivity Falls Short;
What to Teach Young Kids About Gender?

What Is the 21st-Century Mission for Our Public Schools?
Sat., Sept. 17th, 12:00-2:00 @ The American Legion
info@constitutiondaycentre.org

Sept. 15th: Why Polarization Is a Misdiagnosis;
‘What Dr. Phil wants me to do’
Workers think their companies’ diversity policies are BS;
When Did Equity Become a Trigger Word?
How to Remove Unconscious Bias;
Building Restorative School Cultures;
Are Schools Ready for Systemic Change?
Education and Indoctrination;
School Is for ‘Wasting Time & Money’;
Why These Parents Became School Activists;

Sept. 8th: What is School For?
The Worthlessness of How We Measure Children;
Teachers as “Brain Changers”
Rethinking Math Education;
Ways to practice constructive dialogue in the Classroom;
Ways to Practice Citizenship in the Classroom;
Takeaways from Finnish schools;
The History of the TSA; “Under God”?

Sept. 1st: School Shouldn’t be a Battlefield;
The 7 Virtues of a Healthy Democracy;
“My father and Senator Joe McCarthy”
Children as Classroom Citizens; Students as Changemakers;
Lessons from the World’s Best School Systems:
A Teacher Apprentice Program; The Value of ‘Looping’
Work Smarter, Not Harder, With Neuroscience;
Stop the Harm of Testing!
Assessment (il)literacy; The Misuse of Testing;
A Holistic Approach to Judging Schools;
My Dream for This School Year;
5 Questions to Ask Students; 7 Things Teachers Can Quit Doing;
Our Social Life Is Not What It Should Be;
The path to eradicating unconscious bias;
Whose Vision Will Guide Racial Equity?

Aug. 25th: A conversation with my good friend, Jim Leous
The ‘Inflation Reduction’ Act; college loan forgiveness; Grange Fair; the teacher shortage; The Old Main bell; “Codebreaker” the “Chips” bill; “Academic Literacy”

Aug. 18th: My monthly conversation with Dr. Carline Crevecoeur
All things educational

August 11th: The Seven Deadly Sins of Poli-Speak;
Bringing Climate Change Into Elementary School;
5 Myths About Standardized Tests;
Leadership for a Multiracial Democracy;
Teaching tools for the 21st Century (Australia);
Educational Philosophy (by George)
3 Reasons a Teacher Gave Up Grading;
Parents interview potential teachers?
The Myth of Independent American Families;
Understanding Student Cell Phone Use;
How should Journalists Frame Issues?
Another Einstein Quote; The Shift of Earth to the 5th Dimension

August 4th: “I Was Wrong About Trump Voters”
Why Democrats Are Losing Ground on Education;
Two Supreme Court Justices Talk Civics;
Behaviourism (PBIS) Is Not Inclusion;
When It Comes to School Culture, Words Aren’t Enough;
A Future Without teacher evaluations?
What Should ‘Culturally Relevant Teaching’ Look Like?
A ‘Post-Woke’ Approach to Trans Issues;
The Age of the Algorithm;
Dementia Risk & Ultra-Processed Foods;
13 Albert Einstein Quotes

July 7th: How Gun Violence Changed Ronald Reagan;
America Is in Denial; Is Sex Binary?
Why Principals Must Focus on School Climate Right Now;
How is climate change taught in school? It depends.
Most U.S. Schools Are Not Really Teaching “Science”
What Becomes History?
How to make history come alive? Watch movies in class;
Are Coke & Pepsi Campuses Bad for Public Health?
Why Isn’t There a Canadian Traffic Safety Crisis?
For most parents, the education culture war is background noise

June 30th: How afraid are we?
What Are (we) So Afraid Of?
Why kindness & emotional literacy matter in raising kids;
Dining habits reflect Americans’ self-segregation;
What would you do to make the country less divided?
Listening to Students Has an Academic Payoff;
Restorative justice can go far beyond discipline;
Prevent violence by helping every student feel like they belong;
Schools Sharpen Their Message on ‘SEL’;
Unlearning the Language of ‘Wokeness’
On Building Better School Leadership;
Every Student Deserves an IEP;
We need to stop teaching HS subjects separately;
Lecturing v. Hands-On: ‘It’s Not About the Evidence Anymore’
This is no way to be human

June 23rd: a conversation w/ Dr. Carline Crevecouer:
The superintendent search, strategic planning, mental health in school; Title IX, the Supreme Court,

June 16th: It’s past time to pass charter reform
A massive Pa. corporate tax break lacks accountability;
A Terrible Catch-22;
The corruption behind the crash of 2008;
Plastic Recycling Doesn’t Work;
SUVs are less safe & worse for the environment;
Ignore NAEP. Better Yet, Abolish It;
Why Did U.S. Cities Resegregate?
NY mayor, Eric Adams: ‘The Wire’ at 20:
What Can You Control? Who Was Jesus, the Man?

June 9th: A Tipping Point on Guns?
A Simple Response to School Shootings;
Fact-checking: guns and mental illness;
Why SEL is a tool for preventing school violence;
We won’t Argue Against More Counselors, but…
Students of color push back on ‘police in schools’
America’s Teachers Offer Answers;
Action Items for Creating an Inclusive School:
What (nearly all) Parents Want Kids to Learn About Racism;
Common Ground re: Tough Classroom Conversations;
“We need to improve public schools”
What Americans Could Learn from the Dutch About Sex

June 2nd: Students Should Refuse to Go Back to School;
How Much Time Should Schools Spend on SEL?
Here’s what parents and teachers say;
Do Elementary Teachers Learn Enough Math?
5 Ways Kindergarten Has Been Destroyed;
Einstein’s Advice For Students; The Purpose Of Education;
Speaking Out; How to Win the Morality Wars;
Why We Need to Talk About Racism With White Students;
How to Keep Your Restorative Justice Program from Failing

May 26th: A terrific conversation with Jim Leous

May 19th: The kids are not ok;
Racial Bias Lowers Student Achievement (for everyone)
6 Ways to Control Our Jargon;
Ditch The Math Worksheets for Real-World Problem Solving;
To Change Schools, Change your Mindset;
Being a Black Academic in America;
What Black cops know about racism in policing;
Why Diversity training doesn’t work;
(How to) Future-Proof Students;
3 Counterintuitive Findings About Motivation;
How to Quit Intensive Parenting; Your Grumpy Teenager;
Healthy teen use of social media; The Largest Autocracy on Earth

May 12th: : What is school for?
How should the US teach about slavery?
Fact-checking isn’t enough;
Fixing Higher Ed’s Broken System;
What Top US Companies Think Schools Could Do Better;
America’s Boys Are in Trouble;
Are Teacher-Prep Programs Out of Touch?

May 5th: What Is School Reform, Anyway?
Strategies for Successful DEI Training;
What Is Culturally Responsive Teaching?
The Missing Dilberts:
Strategies to Integrate Civic Discourse in Schools;
How to work with activist parents;
Equity & Student Engagement:
The Importance of Brain Breaks;
Making Sense of the LGBTQ Culture War?

April 28th: A conversation with Dr. Carline Crevecoeur:
S.P.I.R.I.T.; DEI; A view from the State College School Board

April 21st: A Better Way to Change Minds;
The cost of “sink or swim, every man for himself”
The Crisis of Moral Legitimacy;
Building Trust Across the Political Divide;
Using Data to Promote Problem Solving in Social Studies;
To Honor School Shooting Victims: Listen to Students;
How the Bobos Broke America;
3 Ways Schools Condition Students;
“I stopped being a dictator”

April 14th:. It’s time to Opt Out!
Preparing students for life in an uncertain world;
It’s Time to Debunk the Myths About Standardized Tests;
How important are standardized tests?
Our Obsession With Standardized Testing;
Consent Was Never Enough;
Why Is There Evil in the World?
How to Replace the Protestant Consensus of the 1960s?
Ignoring Racism in Schools Increases Prejudice

April 7th “Who We Are, All that We Are“
A conversation with Andre Culbreath & Jessica Sumney
Click here to register for the community conversation at the Heinz Alumni Center April 19th, 5-6:30 PM

March 31st: How People Think;
Why Follow the Science sometimes fails;
We Aren’t in Vegas Anymore;
What ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill actually says;
DEI Trainings: Divisive or Effective?
How to Create Clarity on Race & Curriculum;
Are We Listening to Our Students?
Best Practices for Implementing DE&I;
Polling & America’s polarization problem;
Polls About Lessons on Racism in Schools;
A Strategy for Student Discussions;
Creating a Culture of Inquiry Among Educators;
Profile of a Graduate; The School Smile Quotient;
An Open Letter to Equity-Driven Educators

March 24th: Bob Dole on unity;
How to get rural Americans involved in climate crisis,
Religion, Culture and Education;
A Better Plan to Fight Autocracy;
Eliminate interest to ease student debt;
Can Democrats Dodge Doomsday?
Returning to our common values through national service;
Do We Want Justice Or Revenge?
Is Public Education a public good?
Just don’t call it “social and emotional learning”
Carol Dweck on Growth Mindset;
The Future of Learning Lies in Engagement;
Things that motivate students more than grades:

March 17th: The Dark Century;
A surprising poll about book bans; If everyone is talking…
How to Develop Empathetic Student Citizens;
Strategies to Boost Civics Education;
Teaching the Truth in Divisive Times:
Students Want to Talk About Race. Let Them;
What Is Education For? Students reflect on school funding trial;
Why Putin Can’t Back Down; Putin Has No Good Way Out;
Why the debate over school curriculum matters;
What Do I Get If I Do It? Why Is Nature So Good to Us?

March 10th:
A Message for Police: If You See Something, Say Something;
Inside a Public School without police;
How St. Paul Became a Leader on Justice Reform;
Redefining Public Safety:, p.46 We are all junkies;
Doug Reeves on Psychological Safety;
Collaborative Classroom Management;
I Am a Teacher, and I Hate Grades;
The Perspective of a Diversity Officer;
Statistical literacy: essential for everyday life;
Students helping students;

March 3rd: Terry Watson, founder
Strategies for Justice

Feb. 24th: Tierra Williams & Elizabeth Siegelman
Centre County Community Conferencing
Restorative Practice for the Community

Feb. 17th: Brown-Trickey, of the Little Rock Nine
Avoid Whitewashing Civil Rights;
How the Black Church Fueled a Movement;
Why Are We Still Doing That?
What Makes a Good Test?
Brain Science and Student Motivation;

Feb. 10th:
Critical thinking & why we need outliers;
A study on life trajectories; Bias in the workplace;
An end to standardized testing?
What is Culturally Responsive Teaching?
Being strategic about supporting students of color;
Indigenous Knowledge Has A Lot to Teach Us;
Controversy as a teaching tool:
Gradeless Philosophy in a Standard Classroom

Feb. 3rd: Another conversation with Leslie Laing!
Race and Reconciliation in State College; “I Have a Dream”

Jan. 27th:
Teaching Civics After Jan. 6th;
The 3 Evils MLK Warned Us About;
Rethinking the Traditional School Calendar;
What does good SEL Look Like? Listen to the Community;
Old enough to use racial slurs? Not too young to learn about racism;
From a HS student who learned about CRT: Adults need to chill out;
Teaching About Slavery? Start With Honesty;
How to do effective DEI training;
Citizen Workers of Democracy (p. 85)
Taming our inner authoritarian;
People are Meant to Create

Jan. 20th, 2022:
A ‘Cross-Partisan’ Approach to Civics Education;
How Students Want to Reimagine Education:
Parents’ top concern: political involvement in K-12;
Democracy requires more than voting;
Communities and Schools Are In It Together;
Preparing Teachers for Tough Classroom Conversations;
We’re Not as Divided As They Say We Are;
How we transform the current culture war;
Matthews: To Work Together, Learn Together, p.4;
Helping Students Understand Systemic Racism;

Dec. 16th: A conversation with Leslie Laing, former president of the Forum of Black Affairs, and host of #Calling Men In Breakfast

Dec. 9th: It’s time to abolish standardized tests;
Changing how students earn grades?
The overdue case for Competency-based Education;
How to Teach Older Students S-E Skills? Try Civics;
Science & engineering in the early grades;
Ways to Use Art in Content Classes;
Math Learners as ‘Sense Makers’ Science Denial in the Classroom:
Radically Inclusive Discipline ; Fighting Racism, Quietly;
The System Only Worked Because It Was Pushed;
The 5th Dimension

Dec. 2nd: The Misuse of Testing;
Tougher Teacher Evaluations Showed No Gains;
Grading Practices That Should Change;
Empathy Is a Crucial Skill. How We Teach It:
Common Fallacies About Creativity;
The Awesome Importance of Imagination;
Misinformation Is About to Get Much Worse;
The Accidental Communicator;
Teaching science through learning expeditions;
School Libraries and Controversial Books;
Can We Talk About Critical Race Theory?
Problems at D.C. Jail Were Ignored – until Jan. 6;
Teaching kids about social justice:
Addressing Aggression in the Classroom:
Things Are Getting Better!

Nov. 18th:
Study correlates SROs with increased risk of firearm discharges;
How angry are parents about masks, really?
Democrats Need to Confront Their Privilege;
Republicans Schooled the Left in Virginia;
The Man Behind Critical Race Theory;
The Mind-Set That’s Tearing Us Apart;
The Conversation Workout; How I Taught Controversial Texts;
Elemental vs Emotional Love;
Albert Einstein’s letter to his daughter

Nov. 11th:
Schools’ role in promoting civic engagement;
Bringing the public to the table; Collins & Stevens;
Discussing race improves outcomes for all students;
Before You Cancel Dave Chappelle;
Why High School SEL Programs Feel ‘Lame’
Enhancing Empathy in Poverty Simulation;
Reading, Writing, Arithmetic -and anti-Racism;
Teachers’ views have a place (sometimes) in the classroom.
The overdue case for competency-based education;
Alfie Kohn: Rethinking Classroom Rules;
Feeling guilty won’t save our souls;
Love (literally) makes the world go ‘round

Nov. 4th: interview w/ Dr. Carline Crevecoeur
This was a lot of fun!

Oct. 28th: The Trouble With Tipping;
Addressing the Suffering Underneath;
Does Restorative Justice Work?
Making better progress on ‘diversity, equity & inclusion’
According to 100 Black teachers;
The power of estimation in math;
The value of Equitable Classroom Participation;
Helping students hone public speaking skills;
Tiny thoughts

October 7th:
Do Your Kids Need Social Media?
We must make math more engaging;
Essential elements of a successful school board;
Encourage Problem-Solving by Letting Students Lead;
Students Sought Changes; Their Principal Listened;
Maximizing Student Voice in the Classroom;
How to Keep Restorative Justice from Failing;
So What Should Parents Do? (Alfie Kohn)
Archangels Q & A; 7 Universal Laws of the Universe

Sept. 30th:
A 6th Grade Class on Racism Got Me Ready for Life;
“Police see themselves as educators; students do not;
Using Metacognition to Enhance Learning;
The Importance of Student Choice;
TELL CHILDREN THE TRUTH
Alfie Kohn on Classroom ‘Management’
Why relationships, not $, are the key to improving schools;
Why Is It So Hard to Be Rational?
‘Trust the Experts’ We’re Told. We Shouldn’t.

Sept. 23rd: Florida scraps year-end tests;
Parents want kids to learn about slavery – but not CRT;
This Is Why Liberals Keep Losing;
Bernice King Calls on Educators to Teach Nonviolence;
Is Self-Awareness a Mirage?
Characteristics of effective science instruction;
How Much Water Do You Actually Need?
Supporting critical numeracy skills;
Advice for Schools Caught Up in Conflict;
The Neuroscience of News Overload;
I Asked the Archangels About Heaven

Sept. 16th:
Expert Advice for Dealing with High-Conflict;
What’s the Point of Grades?
School Shooters: A History of Social Rejection;
We’re Working For Each Other, Not The Money;
How 9/11 is taught in school;
The politics of sex ed leaves a lot untaught;
8th grader challenges school dress code;
I Asked the Archangels About God

Sept. 9th:
Involve students in developing the 5-year plan;
Civic Engagement in Math & English class;
I Asked the Archangels About Covid;
‘Cultural illiteracy’ led to failure in Afghanistan;
Afghanistan, a false binary;
Rick Hess on Critical Race Theory;
My White Colleagues Forced Me To Be An Extrovert;

Sept. 2nd: ‘Cheating’ At College?
It’s Time for a New American Revolution
We cannot just ‘check the box’ on civic education;
Teaching kids about the Holocaust?
Is Data Science the New Coding?
The Future of Democracy;
Our Pathetic Herd Immunity Failure

Aug. 26th:
Close to Home; Making a better democracy;
America needs democracy learning communities;
Moving Beyond Compliance;
Parents Like Social-Emotional Learning, But Not the Name;
Surprising Common Ground on Schooling;
Portrait of a Graduate; Reimagining Academic Success;
Why Are So Many Black Kids Suspended?
What science tells us about improving Middle school;
Thinking and rationality

Aug. 19th:
How white people can have conversations about race;
Punishment doesn’t address the root of behavior;
Teaching Race in Kindergarten?
Is ‘Learning Styles’ a Zombie Idea?
The need for civic education in 21st-century schools;
When Is the ‘Best’ School Not the Best?

Aug.12th: Teenagers and the Smartphone Trap;
Facebooks’ broken vows;
The news should empower, not just trigger us;
Empowering students to hear, not fear, different perspectives;
We Are Not Teaching Boys About Being Human
Describing the Skills for the Future of Work;
Comprehensive civics education;
Teaching children why to write, not just how;

Aug. 5th: A tale of two stories;
Service-Learning: Connecting Learning to the Real-World;
Black history is integral to American history;
‘Showing up’ for 2nd graders;
Racism: Are We Missing the Systemic Forest for the Trees?
Kids Are Learning About Race on TikTok;
The Power of a Democratic Classroom;
10 Amazing Life Tips From Jesus

July 29th: I Live Here;
Race Affects Home Values More Now Than in 1980;
Is the Ku Klux Klan ‘Morally Wrong’?
NJ school builds relationship w/ police;
The role of school facilities in Learning;
‘Culturally Sustaining’ Math Instruction;
Why Math Class Is Boring;
More on Standardized Tests;
Why Is UC Dropping the SAT?
The ‘Performance of Femininity’
Your Thoughts Can Change Reality

July 22nd: “I don’t see color, I’m colorblind”
Our founders believed civic education would foster democracy;
How to win friends and influence readers;
On re-reading Peter Drucker;
The Advantages of Working With Student Teachers;
Ways to teach Math more Meaningfully;
The true costs of the American diet;
A Reality Reset Is Coming;
What Can You Control? Inside Your Mind

July 15th:
Standardized tests don’t measure how much students learn;
Students Say: Teach the Truth;
Educators Should Teach the Truth;
8th Grade Policy Summit connects students to local issues;
Sexual harassment is normal for some students;
Small Shifts in Teacher Talk Make a Difference;
Smithsonian: Nurturing Young Thinkers;
How Should We Do Drugs Now?
You’re Being Manipulated

July 8th:
Bernice King: We Need to Teach Nonviolence;
Changing Your Mind Can Make You Less Anxious;
Arguing-to-Learn vs Arguing-to-Win;
The Toxicity of Woke Culture;
Teaching Students How (Not What) to Think;
Missing From the Discourse About Anti-racist Teaching;
Reprioritizing Standards for Middle and High School;
Focus on Learning, Rather Than Grades;
‘Safety First’ Drug Education

July 1st:
Why White Students Must Be Included in Equity Efforts;
Ruby Bridges: Educators Are Nation’s Equity Lifeline;
Productive Classroom Debates on Sensitive Topics;
DeWitt: Ban Topics – or Allow Students to Explore Them?
These Districts Defunded Their School Police.
What is a Centrist?

June 24th:
Life Skills that Kids Are Not Taught in School;
How Students Reimagine Education;
Teen Boys Need More Than One ‘Sex Talk’
Student-Centered Mathematics;
Games Can Have a Powerful Impact on Learning;
State takeovers don’t help struggling schools;
Speaking Truth to Both the Right and Left;
More on: Don’t Label Me

June 10th:
Students are a valuable resource;
How will schooling change over the next 10 years?
The What, Why, and How Of ‘Interleaving’;
Should SUVs Get a Pedestrian Warning Label?
Don’t Label Me:
How to Do Diversity Without Inflaming the Culture Wars

June 3rd: Why critical race theory matters;
Educators at Center of a Cultural Fight;
School Police Don’t Make These Students Feel Safe;
Former Students Help Address Racism at High School;
Revisiting, Rethinking Our Priorities;
The Impact of Awards; Start measuring skills, not degrees;
A new ‘Phys Ed’ ? Effective Science Learning;
Reimagining AP teaching with PBL ; Basketball Mathematics ;
Teaching Personal Finance ;
Using Literature to Develop Relationships

May 27th: What Is Critical Race Theory?
No, It Isn’t Racist to Teach Anti-Racism;
Pa: still separate and unequal;
White Shame Isn’t Helpful;
The Burden of Being ‘On Point’
Guns Down: turning anger into advocacy;
A professor became a police officer;
Retaining Educators of Color: Some Practical Advice;
‘Teaching the truth’: Tennessee educators respond

May 20th:
Young People Want to Save Their World. How Can We Help?
The Power of a Vision statement;
True inclusion requires viewpoint diversity;
The Fear of Success; the Elevation of Others;
‘Durable’ skills are the next big thing;
“All we are asking for is change!”
Do You Know Who You Truly Are?

May 13th: interview w/ Dr. Sam Richards
World in Conversation

May 6th:
Sec’y Cardona on Standardized Tests;
Getting School Climate Right:
How Science can enhance communication skills & curiosity; Reading Rewires Your Brain;
When Teachers Overcome Math Anxiety…
Performative Rage is Not Activism; Moving Beyond Cancel Culture:
America’s Hidden Common Ground

April 29th:
Kids aren’t racist, are they? Constructive Conflict;
Leading for Democracy: A Vital Agenda for Public Schools;
Building a schoolwide culture of critical thinking;
A whole-school approach to student well-being;
The Benefits of Reading for Fun;
Math ..and Project-Based-Learning;
How to weave real-world phenomena into science class

April 22nd:
Those Annoyingly Loud TV Commercials;
Adults who view TV & social media as news sources are less informed;
What to tell the next generation of political reporters;
Does Humor Help Students Remember?
How learning through play can help you succeed as an adult;
I Am Helping to Destroy the English Language;
“By the Way” Remarks;
What Did the Average 1930s German Think of the Nazi Regime?

April 15th:
Teaching Positive Creativity;
Help High School Students Develop Empathy;
How a Successful Science Teacher Failed Her Students;
Make sustainable residencies The standard;
Questions to Support a Student’s Path to Success;
How Psychedelics Help People Cope w/ Racial Trauma;
More on Robert Putnam: The Upswing:

April 8th:
Optimism is Contagious; The Focused Brain;
New National Civics Guidelines Carve a Middle Path;
Robert Putnam: The Upswing: How America Came together a century ago & How we can do it again.

April 1st:
Putting democratic principles into practice – at school;
How to Engage Without Melting Down;
Inclusion makes diverse teams work;
What Are (We) Creating These Days?
Personal Finance Class!
The Evolving Roles of School Resource Officers

March 25th: A Christian vision of social justice;
(Tell the truth, change your mind, repair the damage)
Can White Evangelicalism Be Saved?
Greed, Poverty and Evangelical Politics;
A Culture of Kindness in Early Childhood Classrooms;
Educator Well-Being – We Need Systems Change;
Standardized testing amid a pandemic will do kids & teachers more harm than good

March 18th: Shaking Up Standardized Testing;
How Should Educators Measure Learning?/’False Precision’;
U.S. Companies: These Are the Skills Students Need;
Covid Absolutism and ‘Hygiene Theater’;
Beyond “Voice” to Contribution;
Student Radicalization: It Can Happen Here;
Interrupting the Extremist Pull
(How to help teens resist white nationalist propaganda)
Love Is Medicine for Fear

March 11th:
Changing Your Mind is a Skill. Let’s Teach It;
My Hope for the New Education Agenda;
A Better Way to Think About Conspiracies;
Why basic math is central to democracy & politics;
Feds say tests still required; is it time to mobilize?
There’s a Better Way to Parent: Less Yelling, Less Praise;
Is Too Much Choice Is Hurting America?

March 4th:
The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know;
When did we give up on persuasion?;
A Radical Proposal for True Democracy;
The Book That Should Change How we Talk About Race ;
Why Did Racial Progress Stall in America?;
King: ‘Corporate America can save the soul of America’;
PA Charter School Funding Reform Long Overdue;
Can We Stop Fighting About Charter Schools?;
The hijacking of the charter school movement

Feb. 25th:
Leading for Democracy: A Vital Agenda for Public Schools;
How to Talk About Sensitive Social Issues;
Why ‘Unity’ Is So Elusive; Make Every Conversation Count;
Learning Means Changing Your Mind;
America’s Zero-Sum Thinking on Race and Wealth

Feb. 11th:
Let’s Keep Talking About Racism: Here’s 10 Tips;
Should teachers be apolitical? (no)
The Important Political History of Black History Month;
A Fuller Picture of What a ‘Good’ School Is;
Preschool program linked with better social skills years later; Are We Teaching the Math Kids Need?

Feb. 4th:
For sake of democracy: the art of conversation
Can we teach our way out of political polarization?
Teaching ‘through’ Black History, not ‘about it’;
When History Class Feels Like Propaganda;
Socialism for the Rich. Capitalism for the Rest.
Evilcore just raised their rates, again

Jan. 28th:
“We the People” need to grow up; Stop Keeping Score;
Duckworth: ‘It’s More Important to Be Nice than Gritty’
How the ‘4 Cs’ prepare students for Life;
Leveraging intrinsic curiosity in Science;
Fueling Teachers’ Passion and Purpose

Jan. 21st:
NBA players: we live with white supremacy every day;
How Teachers Can Get America’s Story Right;
Teachers of Color Tackle Controversial Civics Topics;
What Biden can learn from FDR;
Was Jesus a person of color?

Jan. 14th:
Has the Pandemic Ushered in New Norms in Education?
Make Schools More Human;
Principals Need Help Building Anti-Racist Schools;
Systemic Racial Bias Is Not a Myth;
Equity Is Not a Zero Sum Proposition

Jan. 7th, 2021:
This is Our Country’s Rebirth
3 Ways to rebuild the system after a crippling campaign;
Biden.. Must Change Education Policy;
School Wasn’t So Great Before Covid Either

Dec. 10th:
The Purpose of Capitalism;
Business thrive by doing good
Taking the Heat Out of Classroom Discussions;
What we lost when we stopped reading;
Making Science Class Relevant;
Science literacy: a crucial (civics) skill;
Putting art at the heart of science

Dec. 3rd:
A civics project instead of another standardized test?
What systemic racism look like in education; in policing
Training the Bias Out of Teachers?
Ways to Have Deeper Conversations;
Truth and Reconciliation?

Nov. 19th: A better democracy starts in our schools;
Teach empathy early
Testing in Our Schools Needs to Evolve– Yet,
Ineffective Accountability Systems Continue;
Online Learning Isn’t the Only Way to Learn Remotely;
Reimagining safe schools; Applying Restorative Practice

Nov. 12th:
Antiracist practices that benefit everyone;
A Radical Proposal; What the Voters Are Trying to Tell Us;
Poverty and brain development; 15 Critical Education Issues;
Penn State’s first-year equity seminar; yes!

Nov. 5th:
Break This Common Morning Habit to Boost Your Creativity
Reparations means “to repair”
Anti-Bias Training for My Classmates
Let’s Make Math Education Relevant
Let’s Make Science Class Relevant

Oct. 29th:
Americans can learn to solve our nation’s problems together
Make America Again; Brain Science for teachers
The Essential Traits of a Positive School Climate
How to Talk to White People About Racism;
Things anti-racism allies need to stop doing

Oct. 22nd: Courageous Conversations about Race
What the Election Says About Character Education
After the Pandemic, a Revolution in Education, Work?
America’s Hidden Common Ground on Economics, Inequality
Poll Shows Support for Teaching History of U.S. Racism
‘Classrooms Are Political’

Oct. 15th: What’s the plan if the Democrats win?
Why Do Students Hate School?
Every Educator Needs to Know How the Brain Learns
Intrinsic Motivation Works Better
Dispelling the myth of laziness

Oct. 8th: Let’s Talk about Race/ “White Fragility”
Teacher Diversity Starts with Belonging
Strategies for Embracing Anti-Racist Work in Classrooms
It’s Time To Retire The Term “White Privilege”

Oct. 1st: Part 3: The Future of Democracy

Imagining the two-thirds-majority platform
Our Hidden Common Ground
Education for Citizenship; The Police in Schools Debate

Sept 24th: Let’s not repeat 1968
It’s Time for a New American Revolution

Part 2: American Democracy Grows Up

July 9th: a Discomfort Zone chat w/ Dr. Sam Richards, co-founder of World in Conversation: policing, statues and the state of the world.

June 18th w/ Dr. Seria Chatters, SCASD Director of Inclusivity & Equity:

May 23rd: What Students Need Before Perseverance
9 Ways Corona Will (hopefully) Improve Education
6 Classroom Changes Teachers Will Make (hopefully)
The Science of Teaching

May 15th: A Message to While Allies from the Dalai Lama: You’re doing it wrong.
4 Actions Leaders Can Take
65 Things White People Can Do

May 8th: What lessons could we learn from our current ‘experiment’? A Blueprint for Interest-Based Learning
Why Are Some Kids Thriving During Remote Learning?
The teacher as facilitator: Forget the Leading Role
The case for Psychology as a required course

April 30th:
Learning at Home: Self-Directed—and Less Structured;
Ideas for Student-Led Learning During Remote Teaching;
Courageous Conversations; Helping Students Speak Truth;
Empowering Children Through Dialogue

April 23rd: the importance of play
The Link between the Arts and Cognitive Skills;
Do your students care about what they’re learning?
Ways to Make High School “Suck” Less
Unschool by Design: Liberty Academy; Your Words Matter

April 16th: “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste”
Online Learning Isn’t the Only Way to Learn Remotely;
Boosting soft skills is better than raising test scores;
A Perfect World Is One with No Grades;
Is traditional assessment getting in the way of learning?

Is Algebra Really Necessary?
The Missing Ingredient in Our Democracy: Math;
Teaching Students to Wrangle Big Data;
Math scores stink in America. Other countries teach it differently

April 9th podcast: Civics for a New Generation
A Better Way to Assess Discussions; “It’s not a Debate!”; Empathy as an intentional goal;
Changing your mind is a civic skill; Making American History relevant; Giving and receiving feedback effectively

March 5th:
Talking to the ‘elephant’; Deliberation vs. Debate
The Questions Sex-Ed Students Always Ask;
Talking to Boys;
Unconscious bias in Math class; Air filters & equity?
Culturally responsive teaching; Religious texts in school

Feb. 20th:
Big U.S. Companies Design Their Ideal High School Courses
“Creative communication skills, public speaking, story-telling, Open-mindedness, how to have difficult conversations,
How ‘stuff’ works, K12 financial education,
The value of kindness, the power of diverse thinking, working in teams. Give students a purpose for learning

Sorry, no audio!

Feb. 13th: Know when to stand and when to sit;
Who benefits from tuition voucher programs, PA’s charter school law?
Providing school ‘choice’ within public (government) schools
Spending a day as a student

Feb. 6th: The future of Democracy is in the public school;
Black children in a white world & the ‘achievement gap’;
Master’s of None;
Financial illiteracy; rethinking high school math

Jan. 30th:
The role of education in the New American Revolution
Building metacognitive muscle; Daniel Pink;
A great question to ask students every day

Jan. 23, 2020:
It’s Time for a New American Revolution

Dec. 12th:
“We abandoned our parents’ church & haven’t replaced it.”
The importance of not avoiding arguments;
The entire rationale for public education: effective citizens
Math: the powerful civics lesson you never had

Dec. 5th: a chat w/ Lt. Col. Bill Edmonds
Author of “A Soldier’s Story” and “God is Not Here”
Questions for Bill? You can contact him here: edmondsw@gmail.com

Nov. 21st: How and Why:
…creating safe spaces for difficult conversations;
What makes schools ‘work’?;
…(competence, autonomy, relationships)
Repetition & rote-learning is still the norm!
Starting High School later is the right thing to do;
Is this the end of ‘end-of-year’ testing?; Life is Good

Nov. 7th: A 21st-century Model for Education
“The Tipping System is Immoral” & practical politics;
‘Physical Literacy’; A Future without Summative Tests?
How to: develop critical-thinking; address hate/prejudice;
foster classroom community; & keep students safe
What School Shooters Have in Common

Oct. 24th:
Why Behavior Change relies on the Golden Rule;
Inquiry-Based Teaching-> Students Learn More;
Why Is Middle School So Hard?
Rethinking HS math into something actually useful.

Oct. 10th: The Incredible Benefits of Letting Students Drive Their Own Learning
Why Behavior Change Relies on the Golden Rule
Teaching for Better Humans; Facilitating productive conflict

Oct. 3rd:
A better measure of educational ‘accountability’
What makes teachers – and students – thrive?
What do timed tests actually measure? Why do we teach math?
Are cyber charter schools making the grade?

Sept. 26th: Are we asking the wrong questions?
Teaching the ‘tools of happiness’;
How to talk “taboo” topics w/ young students;
Student voice in elementary school;
The perils of outrage

Sept. 19th:
A better way to handle democratic debate; Citizen Assemblies
PA’s obsolete charter school law; What Finland is really doing;
What middle school students need
Personalized learning for teachers & the power of collective efficacy; Malcolm Gladwell’s new book

Sept 12th:
Controversy in the classroom: a student’s view
The ‘moral panic’ over kids and smartphones
Intentionally integrating arts & music into the curriculum
Technology as a creative tool
A much better way to handle democratic debate

Sept. 5th: A Blueprint for Education?
Brain research, ‘teacher talk’ & digital learning;
charter schools v. ‘government schools’; “I Promise”

Aug. 29th: a review; “We the People”
Training teachers to prevent school shootings (not what you think)
The disconnect between what schools teach and what students need.

Aug. 22nd:
How belonging to a tribe provides a sense of purpose & community
“We, the People” and ‘collective usefulness’;
“I used to think”; naps in high school?;
Racism is harmful to children and other living things

Aug. 15th:
Embracing diversity as essential national infrastructure;
Empathy, equity – and school security?;
What students say they need from school – but aren’t getting;
Students as a key part of school improvement

August 8th:
AFT (teachers): “It’s up to educators to save democracy”
NSBA (school boards): “Education is the foundation of democracy”
A political campaign based on ‘love your neighbor’?
The Supreme Court decision that undermined Brown v. Board

July 25th: Biden v. Harris; the case for integration
“Race, history & memories of a Virginia childhood:”
The dangers of self-righteousness; what is ‘white privilege’?

July 18th: Preaching faith in Democracy; collective happiness;
Does education focus too much on individual achievement?
Ask the students!
Teacher training: some of this should be common sense.
Is it time to rethink the school calendar?

July 11th:
How to know: are you open-minded or closed-minded?;
The pursuit of ‘collective happiness’?;
The ‘invisible fences’ of education;
meaningful classroom conversations; engaging parents
Who defines what a successful school looks like?

July 4th w/ Dr. Greg Ferro;
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
“Constitution Day”: Sept. 15th, 1-6 pm. Tussey Mountain

June 13th: What is the American story? Is this our Day of Reckoning? Student awards; making education meaningful; what is your ‘theory of the world’?

June 6th: Teen voices: what do students say about education?
My vision for public ed. What do you think?

May 30th: review: A vision for education?; “What Teens Want”

May 23rd: More on student voice; 65 years after Brown v. Board

May 16th w/ Adam Schram: is the current education model sustainable?

May 2nd w/ Justin Korman: Student voice in education

April 25: Talking about race w/ Lorraine Jones

April 18: the anxiety epidemic; intrinsic motivation; being intentional; empathy as a graduation requirement.

April 11th: Talking about Race w/ Drs. Barbara and Edgar Farmer

March 21: Talking Math w/ Jim Leous; “How Algebra Ruins Lives”;

March 14th: Doing obsolete things better;
“Principal gets student view of life during shadow day”;
“Elevator speeches and other skills students are missing”;

March 7th: Love your neighbor as public policy?;
it’s not enough to be ‘right’; public ed’s civic role

Feb. 28th: a vision for education?

Feb. 21st: do we know what we value?; other people?
rethinking the goals of education; are letter grades useful? cursive? Do charter schools actually provide choice?

Feb. 14th: the Oracle of Delphi; unrigging the economy;
Alan Alda, Mr. Rogers, Virginia, consent, manhood

Feb. 7th, 2019: Decide what you want, then pick a leader;
a 1960s education worked in the 1960s;
what should we measure in education?: Count the flamingos;
empathy as a teachable skill; ‘multiculturalism’ and creativity

Jan 31st, 2019:
A PSU snow day review: what kind of country do we want?
how we actually make decisions is not rationale. (“Switch”)
If History class is boring, you’re doing something wrong.
The highlight of the March on Washington (it’s not what you think.) Who won the Civil War, anyway?

Jan 17th, 2019: “The Kids are right: school is boring”;
the difference between consequences and punishment;
a radical idea: we can create the world we’re going to live in;
disengagement disguised as a discipline problem;
Confessions of a Praise Manipulator; the value of unsupervised time; unrigging the economy

Jan. 10th, 2019:
What kind of country do we want? 5 suggestions.
A better way to teach Math. Sex education in the U.S.
Understanding people on the other side of the fence.
Compassion education; students seeing themselves as part of the solution. Would we rather have a king?

Dec. 13th: A vision for America: what big ideas do we agree on? What does it mean to be an American?;
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Donald Trump as the logical extension of 50 years of Madison Avenue. The speech Hillary should have given.

Dec. 6th: ‘Best practice’ is not revolutionary: intrinsic motivation, schools as welcoming, positive school climate, developing a sense of purpose, student voice, skills to handle controversy;
Is tv news hazardous to your mental health? What is the nature of the Universe? Why it has become hard to talk about God – and why that’s important.

Nov. 29th: a full hour on Education Policy:
the disproportionate impact of bad policy; the 10 components of good policy (in Finland); Campbell’s Law; ‘choice’ within the public school system; the myth of private school; the end of class rankings?

Nov. 15th: school security symposium recap;
An American Citizen Platform convention?;
Rethinking ed concepts: ‘learning styles’, ‘whole language’, math instruction; the misalignment of ed colleges and K12;

Nov. 1st: school security in the age of fear; relative risk;
airport ‘security theatre’; the dangers of ‘tribalism’;
moving from ‘winning an argument’ to ‘solving problems’;

Oct. 25th episode, with Dr. Seria Chatters:

Oct. 4th: ‘implicit bias’ is not just about race; is ‘racial literacy’ part of teacher training?; diversity as an asset to learning, not a barrier; what do employers want, but schools don’t teach? (e.g. speaking skills)

Sept. 27th: Democracy Works- what does effective citizenship education look like?; the educational value of physical activity & being outside; what you measure is what you get;
could it be true even if Betsy DeVos said it?;

Sept. 20th episode: “conservatism after Christianity”;
a collective agreement on the direction of the country?; ‘cognitive diversity’; a victim of our educational success?; “What feminism can do for boys”;
a healthcare system that works for everyone?

Sept. 13th: “the false comfort of school security”;
“Owning the classroom together”;
“Motherhood in the age of fear”;
“Liberals, you’re doing it all wrong” (talking about race);

Sept. 6th: A way to talk about religion?;
Relationships, classroom community and relevance;
rewards and punishments -> temporary compliance;
the opportunity cost of our typical curriculum

Aug. 23rd episode: what does it mean to be a ‘man’?; parenthood in a culture of fear; “How to talk to a racist”;
How to make money at taxpayer expense; “Lies my Teacher Told Me”; the Susskind story

Aug. 9th: the theory of effective motivation; classroom rules & rewards; promoting curiosity as public policy;
‘collective kindness’

July 5th episode w/ Drs. Seria and Franklin Chatters:

June 14th: The Premise
– what kind of country do we want?
Is public education important – or is it every man for himself?
The dangers of arrogance

May 31st episode: the four parts of school violence prevention; how to increase student voice and agency (talk to them!); ideas that actually work

May 24th: Things we thought were true, but weren’t:
“A Nation at Risk”, the ‘increase’ in school violence, equal justice under the law.

May 17th episode w/ Dr. Seria Chatters:

May 10th interview w/ Jill Woods, PSU professor of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies & Peter Buckland, PSU Dept. of Educational Theory & Policy

May 3rd: 2nd graders as critical-thinkers, problem-solvers & world-changers; lean, relevant math;
“fighting to keep slavery”; pre- vs. post-millennial evangelicals; preaching a false gospel?

April 26th: the value of homework? testing?; looking at problems mathematically (can I cross this intersection safely?); why does curiosity peak at age five?

April 12th: what is the community’s vision for school?: “the 10 characteristics of a State High grad”. Do active shooter drills do more harm than good?; the 4 components of school safety; the empathetic school; incorporating student inquiry & other good ideas.

April 5th w/ State High Student Gov’t. President, Justin Korman; student protests;

March 22nd: a conversation w/ Ali on the disconnect of ed policy and practice; what was your best experience in school?

March 15th: the value of ‘bicultural’; “you’re wrong and I’m right”; arming teachers?; toxic masculinity; “security theatre”; making schools ‘softer’

March 1st: in which I am interviewed by Alicia Vasquez on the origins of the district’s School Climate/Inclusive Excellence Policy; the skills of citizenship.

Feb. 22nd: what students think about sex education in PA, free speech; developing the capacity of teachers

Feb. 15th: why we need safe spaces for difficult conversations; changing sexual mores; my adventure w/ American Airlines & the consequences of rule-based cultures; a good answer to “all lives matter”

Feb. 1st episode: In this epidsode of the Discomfort Zone, David talks about the Vision for Public Education in Pennsylvania that he and others are working on.

He asks these questions:

• What ought a Pennsylvania public education look like?
• What skills do our children need?
• What supports do our teachers need?

In the final segment, David shares three items for this week’s “Reading List” and discusses each.

The Reading List:

I’m a black daughter of the Confederacy, and this is how we should deal with all those General Lees by Lisa Richardson

The Retreat to Tribalism by David Brooks

An Interview with Eula Biss

Jan. 18th highlights

Due to a technical glitch, there is no audio for the Jan. 18th show. However, with some editorial asides for context, here is the text for the last 20 minutes.

—

The people who know me know that I am not a big fan of either political party. My parents were Goldwater Republicans. And I once wrote a school essay supporting the Conservative party’s candidate for NY governor. (This made my 8th-grade social studies teacher apoplectic!) Back then, there was still such a thing as a reasonable Republican politician: Eisenhower (highly underrated), Scranton, Heinz, Rockefeller, Romney (the elder) and, more recently, George the first.

But early in my political life, the GOP got itself on the wrong side of history, first with their opposition to civil rights, then with their support for the Vietnam War. (The irony that it was a Democratic administration which started that war should be noted. And of course, the Dixiecrats were all Democrats.) Beginning with Nixon, the Republican party never abandoned its strategy of race-baiting, particularly in pursuit of White voters in the south.

Then, in the pursuit of wealthy donors, Republicans began to abandon rational thought altogether, with “voodoo economics” under the sainted Ronald Reagan – which finally drove my life-long Republican father out of the party – and “facts are a matter of opinion” Fox News. And then the Party embraced religious intolerance and the so-called Moral Majority.

As a result, even when things have been relatively equal between competing candidates, I have usually voted for Democrats.  But with a few notable exceptions, I have done so unenthusiastically. Why?  I know what the Democratic party is against (see above), but I don’t know what the party stands for. Hence, the political speech I want to hear. It could be made by a Democratic, but if not, perhaps we need a new political party. (The Common Sense Party?  Still working on a good name..)

—-

Jan. 11, 2018:

The Common Sense Party

Here’s my suggestion for a new third party platform  (if no one else wants it)

• We believe in what works. Independent of ideology, we support ideas which produce results.
• We are willing to try new ideas, with the understanding that if something doesn’t work, we will try something else.
• We believe in an open and honest discussion of the issues. We will not distort the views of another in order to win an argument.
• We believe that even when there is intense disagreement on an issue, there is always some common ground.
• We believe that almost every issue produces the opportunity for a win-win solution.

—–

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” – Pogo

Some of you are old enough to remember the classic Walt Kelly comic strip and the residents of Okefenokee Swamp who commented daily on life in general, and quite often, the foolishness of the politics of the day.

It is fashionable to ‘blame the politicians’ for practically everything that is wrong in our society, but in the spirit of Mr. Kelly, I would like to suggest the following:

Our current problems lie not with Donald Trump, or Hillary Clinton, or any of our politicians, for that matter – the problem lies with us. Let me repeat that. The problem lies with us, “we the people.”  It is the beauty of democracy, but also its curse, that in a democracy, we ultimately get exactly what we want – or think we want.

If you’re not happy with our current situation, the way to begin fix it is by recognizing that we have, quite literally, created it.

In that sense, the 2016 presidential campaign was merely the logical conclusion of the last 50 years of American politics. While marketing has always been a component of our politics, it wasn’t until the 1968 presidential campaign that the genius of Madison Avenue was fully embraced by political consultants. (Thoroughly described in the Joe McGinniss’ classic, “The Selling of the President.”)

The genius of Madison Avenue is the insight that most human decisions are not made at the conscious level, though we’d like to believe differently. Mostly, we make our decisions at the subconscious, or emotional level. We then use our rational mind to justify the decision that we’ve already made!  In politics, it’s rarely about which policies we prefer; rather, it’s how do we feel about a candidate, or probably more accurately, how the candidate makes us feel about ourselves.

When we go to the market we’re not buying cigarettes or soap or toothpaste; we’re buying sex appeal and self-esteem – and we’ve been doing so for at least fifty years. This dynamic has been exacerbated by so-called ‘news’ networks that have taught an entire generation that it is ok to place more value in whether something ‘feels right’ than whether it is actually based in reality.. (Sometimes referred to as Truthiness!)

This is why most political arguments are fruitless. There is almost no chance that you can, with a rational argument, change the mind of someone who has made a decision at the subconscious level. Complicating this is the fact that everyone thinks they make their decisions rationally, but that’s not how it works. It’s therefore necessary to find a way to get to the emotional level: the underlying ‘why’ – and that requires that we talk about our feelings and values – what is really important to us, something we’re generally not very good at, particularly with someone with whom we fundamentally disagree.

This is why, if we are to have any hope of finding our common ground as citizens in a democratic society, we have to find a way to talk about what we truly value as human beings – things such as security (what are we afraid of and why), fairness and freedom.

Mr. Trump took this to its logical conclusion by abandoning substance entirely. It’s all about his brand, which is “I am a winner” and by implication: “if you associate with me, you’re a winner, too.”  Which is pretty much the same sales pitch for just about every bar of soap that’s been sold for the last 50 years.

Mr. Trump has done us a great favor in that he has stripped away the pretense… and it presents us with the opportunity to ask ourselves: what do we really want?

Next: the speech I wish Hillary would have given.

---

My fellow Americans,

I was raised a Methodist. Most of you were brought up with different faith experiences. But if you believe in the value of the Golden Rule: to love your neighbor as yourself, to show kindness to strangers, to have mercy and to walk humbly, then whatever your faith tradition, our religious beliefs do not separate us, they bring us together. We are on the same side. This belief that we are stronger together – E Pluribus Unum – is truly what it means to be an American.

My understanding of faith tells me that we should reject the use of religion as a tool to separate us from each other, as a way to make us feel superior to others, or that it gives us the moral authority to tell other people how they should live their lives.

Rather, it is a foundation upon which we could work together in order to solve our common problems – with the knowledge that despite our differences, we are all deeply connected to one another.

Because, we are in fact, so deeply connected to each other, we understand that we will never be victorious by destroying those who seek to destroy us.  Indeed, our would-be enemies cannot be destroyed; ultimately, they must be transformed. I believe this is what Paul meant when he declared that “we are more than conquerors.”  We must keep this truth in mind even as we do what is necessary to protect each other from harm.

My parents’ generation, the Greatest Generation understood this. In the years following our military victories in World War II, which came at great sacrifice, rather than rule Germany and Japan as conquerors, we chose instead to show mercy. As a result, those countries became two of our strongest allies, and my generation enjoyed a time of relative peace and prosperity. A conqueror wins the battle; but a ‘more than conqueror’ also wins the peace.

My understanding of faith also leads me to believe that if we are willing to share the abundance that has been given us, we will discover that there is enough for everyone. There is always enough.

It is a fundamental part of the American character that we have “nothing to fear but fear itself”. It is that belief that has historically allowed this country to take on big challenges, including those that face us today. We have what we need if we work together.

Thank you, and God love America.

A 21st-century Model for Education

It’s Time for a New American Revolution
Part 2: American Democracy Grows Up
Part 3: The Future of Democracy

The Common Sense Party: principals and platform

My old blog can be found here: http://schoolboardbloggerhutch153.blogspot.com/

Nov. 2nd: Ask Joe: Sweeten or Stir the Pot;
Discussing the War Isn’t Easy;
About to Make a Terrible Mistake;
A “personal, non-partisan perspective”;
CIA & the 1953 coup; “An overwhelming tragedy”;
“Differ We Must”; No Place to Stand;
Common Sense Ethics in Gov’t; SAT data & inequality;
“News Sobriety” & Mental Health;
Trigger Warnings Are Counterproductive;
Too Much Silent Disagreement;
ChatGPT in the classroom; To Improve Student Motivation;
A School Focus on Empathy; Read the Room;
Math Instruction & AI; Math Teachers v. Math Ed Professors;
HS Students of Color on Becoming a Teacher;
Break Up With Fake Sugar; AI Traffic Lights; 8 Sex Myths;

Oct. 25th:
Laurel Zydney and Dr. Carline Crevecoeur
The upcoming elections and the role of the school board

Oct. 19th: Civics test policy failure;
Democracy in Action; 5-Point Plan for School Boards;
Citizen assemblies: School Equity; We need to change school;
Competing Math Philosophies;
Pictorial representations in math; Teacher math anxiety;
America’s Gun Violence; On ‘nudging’;
Reich on economic populism;
Sex ed guidelines; “Sex is a spectrum”, debunked;
Mindfulness is not about you

Oct. 12th:
Strategies For Effective DEI; Why Progressive Movements Fail;
DEI is Obsessed With Power & Privilege?
Anti-racists are overcorrecting.
Kristof on 2-parent families; deBoer on socioeconomic status;
Poverty is a policy choice; Common sense on immigration;
Effective Science Communication;
Challenging Our Approach to School? Disrupt High School Now;
Students Welcome Cellphone Restrictions?
How to Change Minds; Mental health starts in the classroom;
“Opportunity Pluralism”
Democracy & classroom journalism: Democracy in Action;
Neale on the energy of life;

Oct. 5th: Living wisely/Sharing the Commons:
Brought to you by Big Tobacco; The Media is the Problem.
‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ On Leadership;
The Common Good: A Civic Education for All;
Educating-for-Democracy; Students on School Boards;
How to Learn Effectively? Better Student Engagement;
America’s greatest resource; Data-Driven SEL;
The Science of Math Instruction; The Reading Wars;
Science-Based Reading Instruction;
A School w/o Report Cards;
A Letter to Neale;

Prior 2023 episodes on page2: