Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Existential Questions for Educators Right Now. Do We Even Matter?
Existential Questions for Educators Right Now. Do We Even Matter? Does What We Do Matter?PJ Caposey is an award-winning educator, keynote speaker, consultant, and author of eight books who currently serves as the superintendent of schools for the nationally recognized Meridian CUSD 223 school district in northwest Illinois. You can find PJ on most social…
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‘Celebrating Mistakes’ and Other Ways to Help English-Learners.
‘Celebrating Mistakes’ and Other Ways to Help English-Learners. ‘Sometimes Overlooked’Valentina Gonzalez is a former classroom teacher with over 20 years in education serving also as a district facilitator for English-learners, a professional-development specialist for ELs, and as an educational consultant. Her work can be found on Seidlitz Education and on MiddleWeb. You can reach …
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Creating This New Position Could Save Schools Money
Creating This New Position Could Save Schools Money. Here’s How School districts could collectively save millions of dollars by hiring administrators who focus on energy savings and sustainability initiatives. That’s a key takeaway from a new report on sustainability directors and environment managers, emerging K-12 professions whose responsibilities can include tackling the escalating effects of…
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Forget Taking a Hard Line. Try ‘Soft Tactics’
Forget Taking a Hard Line. Try ‘Soft Tactics’ to Spark Student Motivation Jeffrey D. Wilhelm is Distinguished Professor of Literacy Education at Boise State University. He currently is directing a Dispositions of Democracy project supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities A More Perfect Union grant. His latest book, Planning Powerful Instruction: 7 Must…
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Use Knowledge-Building Curriculum to Boost Literacy
Use Knowledge-Building Curriculum to Boost Literacy Do you remember alphabet soup? As I child, I’d spend more time arranging and rearranging letters in the tomato mess than eating any of the letters. The combinations were endless, the fun was priceless, and dare I say, the learning was wondrous. If you’re a literacy teacher in America…
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Student Engagement Can Be Elusive. Here’s How to Help
Student Engagement Can Be Elusive. Here’s How to Help Daniel Pink, in his bestselling book Drive, states the key to intrinsic motivation is autonomy, mastery, and purpose. I would argue that in education, the order matters. You can’t start with full autonomy (often called voice and choice) or you might end up with anarchy. The…
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How Teachers Are Using Artificial Intelligence in Classes Today
How Teachers Are Using Artificial Intelligence in Classes Today In early January, shortly after the debut of ChatGPT, I shared a three-part series where educators wrote about how they had begun using it with their students. Now that a few months have passed, educators share in today’s post (and in a future Part Two) how…
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4 Ways States Are Trying to Fix How They Fund Schools
4 Ways States Are Trying to Fix How They Fund Schools Texas is grappling with whether schools should get funding based on how many students are enrolled or their average attendance. Connecticut lawmakers want more dollars to support high-need students in magnet programs and charter schools. The newly elected governor of Nebraska is proposing that…
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Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law Continues to Spur More Extreme
Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law Continues to Spur More Extreme Versions Nationwide Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis displays the signed Parental Rights in Education, the so called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, flanked by elementary school students during a news conference last March at Classical Preparatory School in Shady Hills, Fla. Forty two bills have been introduced…
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A Charter Academy Delivering a ‘Classical’ Education Grows in Popularity
A Charter Academy Delivering a ‘Classical’ Education Grows in Popularity Great Hearts Academy launched, in 2001, with 130 students. Today, it operates 33 classical K-12 schools serving more than 25,000 students in Arizona and Texas. At a time when there’s a lot of interest in classic liberal arts school models, and with Great Hearts seeking…
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