Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

This week I talked with Connie Liu and Jordan Mareno of "Project Invent," an organization that brings innovation, design thinking, and community problem solving into the classroom. "Project Invent" is all about helping students maintain their curiosity and sense of discovery — what a ZEN master would call their "beginner's mind." This approach isn't just a nice to have. Today's organizations operating in an environment of volatility, complexity, and ambiguity want innovative thinking from their leaders.

Teaching kids 21st century skills is not new news. Fortunately, most school systems have instruction in place that addresses the 4Cs or variations of them along with life & career skills and media skills. How schools develop the skills, however, does vary. Do you teach these skills in discrete lessons? Or do you weave them seamlessly into project-based experiences? In this episode, Connie Liu and Jordan Mareno of Project Invent share their philosophy and program.

This week we talked with Sunny Summers, the Founding School Leader of New Harmony High School in New Orleans. Our conversation centered on how one goes about designing a new school, especially one that is place-based around the local ecosystem. That approach is unique, but what really defines New Harmony is its people – its faculty and students. And people is where we go with this week's mini-feature, as we explore how one author is redefining global warming by focusing on the people affected by it.

This interview is part of our "Unstuck" series. By "Unstuck," we mean our guest is leading or embracing a major shift in student learning, instruction, ongoing teacher professional development, community relations, or personal leadership. This week talked with Sunny Summers, Executive Director of New Harmony High in New Orleans. New Harmony High rewrote the book on place-based learning because everything the students engage in leverages the local ecosystem: the land, the people and their culture.

This week we spoke with K12 social studies educator, Casey Jakubowski, Ph.D.. Our conversation dove into the debate about the purpose of teaching U.S. History. Is it about instilling patriotism, examining the promise of America versus its practices, or teaching critical life skills? A mixture? Teaching skills is where we go with this week's "Worth a Listen, Look or Read." We make the case that helping students develop their critical thinking is critical given that employers are looking for it.

The teaching of U.S. history and civics is in the news a lot these days. We're seeing controversy and divisiveness around the approach we should take with our students. Stress what's good about the U.S. and where we're making progress toward meeting our goals? Focus on where the promise is not yet being met? The discussions are leaving many teachers in pedagogical limbo. And students may be denied the opportunity to engage in some critical thinking. Guest Casey Jakubowski PhD, a K12 specialist, weighs in.

This week we spoke with Principal Michelle Pinchot who was asked to turn around a low-performing school. Rather than jump in immediately with a bunch of 'solutions," Michelle started asking a lot of questions and listening. And listening is where we go with this week's "Worth a Listen, Look or Read." We'll watch a TED Talk to learn about 5 strategies we can use to improve our listening. And then we'll learn about the 7-38-55 rule, which, well...check out the episode for the skinny on that.

This interview is part of our "Unstuck" series. By "Unstuck," we mean our guest is leading or embracing a major shift in student learning, instruction, ongoing teacher professional development, community relations, or personal leadership. This week we talked with Michelle Pinchot, Principal of the Heritage Computer Academy in Garden Grove, CA. Her challenge? How do you improve a low-performing school where only 50% of the faculty feel pride in what they're doing? Hint: don't start with a slew of actions.

In this week's podcast, we talked with Mike Matsuda, Superintendent of the Anaheim Union High School District. Mike's focus has been to build a three-part framework that brings greater alignment between what happens in the classroom and the world of work. One of those elements speaks to developing student voice. We dug into that idea by watching a video that features a graduation speech given by Denzel Washington. In that speech, Washington outlines the real goal of having students develop their voice.

This interview is part of our "Unstuck" series. By "Unstuck," we mean our guest is leading or embracing a major shift in student learning, instruction, ongoing teacher professional development, community relations, or personal leadership. In this episode, we talk with Superintendent Mike Matsuda around his singular vision — to bring better alignment between what students are doing in the classroom right now and the world they'll face upon graduation — and the urgency by which he's pursuing it.