The Back of the Class

In this episode, we take a slightly different approach to the issues associated with education. We're going to spend some time focusing on our own proposals for educational change rather than discussing what others have done and/or proposed. In this episode, Daniel talks about re-imagining the high school experience.

In this episode, we take a slightly different approach to the issues associated with education. We're going to spend some time focusing on our own proposals for educational change rather than discussing what others have done and/or proposed. In this episode, Patrick talks about an educational game that he would develop.

In this episode, we take a slightly different approach to the issues associated with education. We're going to spend some time focusing on our own proposals for educational change rather than discussing what others have done and/or proposed. In this episode, Simon talks about his philosophy of technology usage and what that means for teacher training.

In this episode, the kids at the back of the class take a look at the arguments for homeschooling, and explore whether it is the answer to all of education's problems.

In this show, the kids at the back of the class discuss the idea of having teachers grading parents on how prepared their child(ren) is/are for school each day. It won't take long to find out how the kids in the back of the class feel about that one.

In this episode, the kids at the back of the class are joined by an often-referenced person to discuss Barry Schwartz TED Talk, titled "Using Our Practical Wisdom". Simon was in the field, so Mark Salata joined us, and brought the topic.

In this show, the kids at the back of the class discuss the Thiel Foundation's Fellowship program that gives $100,000 to each of 20 recipients under the age of 20. The program is designed to reward "stopping out of school" and furthering innovative science and technical ideas.

In this episode, the kids at the back of the class discuss, some in a very grumpy way, an article about CARE, a school initiative to bring values learning to students.

In this show, the kids at the back of the class discuss Sugata Mitra's TED talk about Self Organized Learning Environments (SOLE). For the most part, we just gush about the whole idea, but we do it in a confrontational manner.

In this episode, the boys at the back of the class discuss the feasibility of classes set up like the Pandora music service in order to differentiate and individualize instruction.

This show has the kids at the back of the class discussing the relationship between schools and their communities and asking if schools can solve the problems of the world.

In this episode, the kids at the back of the class discuss the role that technology should play in education and how that technology may actually be acting as a distraction for students.

This show focuses on research showing that the presence of women in groups is a predictor of how successful the outcomes of that group will be. In essence, the more women, the more successful the group. The kids at the back of the class tackle this issue, head on, and with gusto...

This show has the kids at the back of the class discussing the RSA Animate youtube clip entitled: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, and looking for what this video's message means for education.

This show has the three kids at the back of the class discussing how to build a better teacher.

This episode sees us take on the practices associated with education in the age of NCLB.

This show focuses on the possible uses of ChatRoulette technology in educational professional development...assuming the numerous issues with it could be worked out.

In this episode, we discuss whether the Thomas Jefferson High School in Northern Virginia (called the "Best High School in America") is actually a model of good education.

This show revolves around the concept of a library without any books. This is a process that a school outside of Boston is undertaking, where the concept is to replace all of the books in a traditional library with electronic means of data collection (e.g. Kindles).

This show, after a short discussion of which topic to cover, leads into a discussion of what types of educational settings can spark a student's desire to learn

This show discusses the topic of the Rubber Room - used in New York City as a temporary (or permanent, depending on your view) solution to poor teachers who cannot be fired without an arbitration hearing.

This episode discusses the nature of learning and the purpose of school. The discussion focuses on a Seth Godin blog post about whether education should be scarce or abundant, free or expensive, and about schooling or learning.

This episode focuses on the need for building time into the system that would allow teachers and students to think. This includes a discussion of what kinds of specific programs could be implemented to allow this time.

This show centers on the teaching of culture and how that can change the focus of education away from traditional models and towards more practical applications of knowledge.

This is the inaugural episode of the Back of the Class, a series of musing on education from the kids at the back of the class. In this episode, we discuss whether it's appropriate to train teachers on the skills that are necessary for becoming a comedian.