Last week I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at Jeff Pulver‘s 140 Characters Conference: Exploring The State of Now! There were nearly 170 speakers and panelists at this two day event, including celebrities, musicians, technologists, media personalities, educators, and more. Without question, one of the most popular and inspiring presentations was that of Chris Lehmann, Principal of The Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. His thoughtful, passionate, and enlightening presentation received an inspirational standing ovation, and I think you will see why if you watch the ten minute video below.
What Is School 2.0?
As Chris Lehmann so eloquently explains, the (one of many) problem(s) with our current education system’s curriculum is that it is one of training and not educating. As Mr. Lehmann states, our schools have one goal in mind with our kids, and that is “teaching them to take tests, not to think.” As I am sure many of you reading this will agree (I do), Mr. Lehmann is passionate that standardized testing is NOT the answer, but rather it is contributing to the problem. Because of the fact that reading and math are the only subjects that can be easily standardized, those subjects are the objects of the tests, and because schools must “train” our kids to take these tests, the rest of the subjects – art, history, science, phys ed, etc., are all put in the background.  On the other hand, in Chris Lehmann’s vision for School 2.0 kids learn to THINK and experience life. In School 2.0 technology and devices are as prevalent in the classroom as pencils, paper and chalk.
If you have kids who are in school or soon will be (or if you just care about the state of our education system) please watch Chris Lehmann, and please let us know your thoughts on his presentation and “School 2.0” in the comments!
??Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 21, Ethan, 19 and Olivia, 18).  He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast.  You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes!and Social Networking Rehab and you can listen to Jeff on the Cast of Dads podcast.
Photo Credit: © Stephen Coburn – Fotolia.com
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As a former teacher, I think the problem is that you’ve got two kinds: 1) Those who love it and can’t imagine doing anything else and 2) those who wear out their welcome and remain bitter until they can collect teacher retirement. I wasn’t the former and vowed not to become the latter.
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As a former teacher, I think the problem is that you've got two kinds: 1) Those who love it and can't imagine doing anything else and 2) those who wear out their welcome and remain bitter until they can collect teacher retirement. I wasn't the former and vowed not to become the latter.
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As a former teacher, I think the problem is that you've got two kinds: 1) Those who love it and can't imagine doing anything else and 2) those who wear out their welcome and remain bitter until they can collect teacher retirement. I wasn't the former and vowed not to become the latter.
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As a former teacher, I think the problem is that you've got two kinds: 1) Those who love it and can't imagine doing anything else and 2) those who wear out their welcome and remain bitter until they can collect teacher retirement. I wasn't the former and vowed not to become the latter.
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As a former teacher, I think the problem is that you've got two kinds: 1) Those who love it and can't imagine doing anything else and 2) those who wear out their welcome and remain bitter until they can collect teacher retirement. I wasn't the former and vowed not to become the latter.