The First Time For The Sitter

As I strolled Rosie into my office, her eyes shot around the room. I thought about whether she was experiencing one of those mental agendas of things individuals hope to find in a clairvoyant medium's perusing room. I grinned, recalling that one customer who'd asked in a disillusioned voice, "Where's your gem ball?" Sorry, no ball, pyramid, enchantment wand or purple astro light (that one's upstairs in the room).

I motioned to the seat opposite my work area. Rosie took a gander at it, at that point back at me, and anxiously stated, "What am I expected to do now?"

"Grab a chair," I said tenderly. "Get settled. Is there anything you'd get a kick out of the chance to ask me? Or, then again we can simply talk a bit. Whatever you'd like."

"Much obliged," she stated, bringing down herself into the seat. She fastened her hands together in her lap as though she were pressing an anxiety ball. I could picture Rosie as an effective businessperson who settled on intense choices with certainty; here, however, she appeared to be uneasy.

She made a sound as if to speak. "This is my first time going by a mystic, and I don't know in case I'm acting the correct way."

"Kindly, don't act," I said with a chuckle. "Simply act naturally."

To comfort Rosie, I educated her concerning how my sessions regularly went and as I talked, she sat back in her seat and appeared to unwind. I was going to inquire as to whether she had any inquiries, when I felt a nearness go into the room.

"There's a respectable man here who needs to make proper acquaintance," I stated, at that point focused on the soul individual. "He's influencing me to feel an agony in my chest. He go from a heart condition. However, he says he's fine now, and can eat as much chocolate pie as he needs."

Rosie inclined forward, listening eagerly. "He's an extremely fiery man," I proceeded. "He influences me to feel like I ought to sing and moving. His name - I'm hearing a hard 'K' sound. What's more, there's something about a rover." I gave her a confounded look. "Why is he calling you a vagabond?"

"That was my significant other's moniker for me," Rosie stated, brushing a tear from her eye. "Carl called me 'Vagabond Rosalie.' We were both performance center majors in school, and our first show together was the melodic Gypsy."

For the following 20 minutes, I gave Rosie confirmation of her better half's quality, and passed on a few messages. The words from soul place satisfaction in her eyes. "I miss you," she stated, and I felt Rosie's significant other reach for his better half. In my psyche, I saw the soul embrace. As he gradually pulled back, I heard him murmuring "Everything's Coming Up Roses," and advised that to Rosie.

At that point her folks came to talk with her, and they complimented her child on breezing through his restorative permit test without a hitch.

After the session completed, I held up a couple of minutes, at that point asked Rosie how she was feeling. "That wasn't so terrible," she stated, at that point grinned. "When I arrived, I didn't comprehend what's in store."

"Culminate," I said. "I think things worked out in light of the fact that you came in without any desires. Desires can disillusion individuals, since they don't get what they're expecting, and regularly miss the stuff they're getting."

We stood up and as I was going to open my office entryway, I all of a sudden swung to her and shouted, "good lord! You have a developed child who simply moved on from restorative school? You appear as though you're in your late 30's!"

Rosie chuckled. "Indeed, that unquestionably made this visit beneficial!"

Carolyn Molnar is a Toronto based Psychic Medium and Spiritual Teacher. She has more than 30 years' understanding. She gives readings and furthermore shows others how to take advantage of their natural capacities.

Her book, 'The time has come: Knowledge From The Other Side', has had a genuine effect in how individuals comprehend instinct. She has been included on radio, TV and in print. Carolyn trusts instinct is open to everybody.

Nourishment Donation Camps for the Needy

Nourishment security is a worry everywhere throughout the world and India is no special case. Given that 60% of the nation's populace still lives underneath the destitution line. We can securely assume, there is a noteworthy lump that can't bear the cost of finish three square suppers. The administration since autonomy has been working towards hunger annihilation. Projects like Food for Work and Antyodaya Yojna have done a considerable measure great in such manner.

In this period of broad private division improvement and corporate nearness, the legislature has made it mandatory for the corporate organizations to devote a level of benefits towards the advancement of society. This rose, the corporate world's compassionate stride called the Corporate Social Responsibility.

There are various organizations situated in Delhi-NCR, holding hands with government so as to construct a superior society where individuals at any rate can get to things to take into account their essential needs. One such CSR endeavor is to accomplish sustenance security among the financial improvement of poor families inside the ambit of Uttar Pradesh.

Sustenance Security and the CSR Foundation:

Sustenance security has been a noteworthy worry in Uttar Pradesh particularly in Noida and Ghaziabad. The CSR establishments have concentrated a decent measure of store committed towards Food Donation Camps, through which sustenance is circulated among destitute individuals. Their point is to visualize a group without nourishment emergency, where each person approaches nutritious sustenance thrice a day.

How Do They Achieve Food Security?

So as to accomplish sustenance security for all, the program: "Destruction of Hunger and Poverty" has been propelled. The goal is to hold hands with the Uttar Pradesh Government and give a solid nourishment base to the malnourished in the poorest of the poor families. The objective gatherings are landless provincial workers, every day breadwinners, underneath destitution line families and occasional jobless individuals. They oblige these individuals through nourishment camps and disperse sustenance.

Undertaking "Nourishment BANK":

The fantasy undertaking of a nourishment secured group is being pursued through the venture "Sustenance Bank". The CSR activity has received 21 towns in Ghaziabad under its ambit to give the advantages. As a team with Indian Food Banking Network, (IFBN), the establishment will endeavor to give non-perishable sustenance things like heartbeats and cooking oils to the few BPL and Landless groups of these 21 towns in Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida.

Through this activity, the exertion of the legislature is being supplemented. While the legislature gives basic sustenance things like rice, wheat and sugar, through Public Distribution System's Fair Price shops, the "Nourishment Bank" venture expects to give sustenance things other than these. The venture "Sustenance Bank" plans to do this until the point that those towns are independent.

This monster nourishment hold is made through different channels. Various nourishment accumulation drives are sorted out keeping in mind the end goal to gather sustenance grains.

Alongside this, the corporate as a team with a few Educational endeavors will dispatch a Food Drive Against Hunger.

This sort of enormous exertion which is being taken up in Noida Ghaziabad, UP district, towards counteract hunger through Food Donation Camps, is the thing that the whole nation needs. Ideally, the CSR exercises develop at a gigantic level to have the capacity to serve the entire country and later on, the world.

Instructions to Fight Fake News

It's very frequently that we read, watch and catch wind of news that stuns us just to later find that it is phony. With person to person communication news, regardless of whether it is genuine or phony can spread worldwide in a matter of minutes with many not discovering reality until hours or days after the fact. The Internet has been an extraordinary asset to many individuals, however with regards to the quick paced sharing society online phony news can harm to organizations, individuals and even their vocations yet there are ways that it can be decreased and eventually halted.

Online networking has made many individuals defenseless against counterfeit news and can cause correspondence issues. There are however routes for individuals utilizing long range informal communication locales to grumble about data that is observed to be erroneous or out-dated. Sadly these articles can at present be shared even after they have been accounted for however before they can do as such they will get a notice telling them the legitimacy of the article is being questioned.

Data that influences individuals to feel awkward is regularly kept away from which is the reason the legitimacy of news is so frequently looked past. It's imperative to challenge data regardless of how it might appear to function in your advantage should you not have the confirmation to go down the claim. As opposed to overlooking data that is by all accounts false the best practice is to report it with the goal that it can be investigated legitimately. In spite of the fact that you may not wish to share it, others will and that is the manner by which counterfeit news is spread.

Begin utilizing a newsfeed expert instrument to influence a diagram of the companions you to have and how frequently their data shows up in your newsfeed. On the off chance that their data is routinely wrong it could be a plan to tell them to allow them to evacuate it.

Take a gander and no more late decision, it was extraordinarily misconceived by writers because of the reality they needed to trust it would work to support them. Shared understanding and addressing is troublesome when individuals are contradicted. It is more valuable to cooperate to discover reality before printing counterfeit news and if effectively presented and addressed on be looked into for legitimacy.

Without a channel bubble that prevents you from truly observing what others are stating in the event that it doesn't concur with your convictions it is more valuable to see regardless of whether the data is right. On the off chance that it is not then you can delight in the reality you were correct, if not it could change your perspective.

Viral phony news is generally used to harm a man or organizations notoriety and profit so before getting tied up with stories on the web or else it is constantly better to discover what the contradicting gatherings would need to pick up by making counterfeit data.

By transferring apparatuses and utilizing web crawlers to discover more data previously choosing whether to share data or not, you could prevent the phony news from being spread in its tracks. Be productive in the way you share data and just offer what you know to be genuine not what snatches your consideration. On the off chance that everybody adopts this strategy counterfeit news could be a relic of days gone by.

200 Million 'MuMu' - An Oppressed State of the Mind

A decent companion once let me know, 'man profits' be that as it may, I obviously contended something else. 'What part of the 'wilderness' would you say you are from, I tongue in cheek inquired? He reacted with a delicate grin however, stayed calm. I cleared out him supposing how 'absurd' and 'improbable' he truly was, to have such idea. Unintentionally, there's a generally opposite form of my companion's idea over from where I come. There's a well known saying in Nigeria, 'Cash makes a man'. My companion happened to be German and me, obviously, the 'coolest' thing to ever happen to Africa (or so we're made to trust), a Nigerian. With so much assurance, pride, guts-feeling and self-conviction, I set out to state, I'm gladly Nigerian!

Measurably, equitably and sensibly, there's energy in numbers. The power in numerical favorable position expands the odds of reasonable justification which, is constantly more prominent than that of a conceivable reason. Moderately, the truth of 'productivity' with less numbers can never be ignored. An awesome case and declaration to this are incredible accomplishments of 'Alexander the colossal'. His successes and triumphs were accomplished with an exceptionally vital, proficient, and powerful approach. He was generally dwarfed by foes on a proportion of 3:1 yet all things considered, he never lost a solitary fight all through his lifetime. So what does it mean? Does 'all the more' essentially signify 'better'? Is China fundamentally further developed than their opponent neighbor, Japan? All things considered, I'll leave that for you to contemplate.

In a broken and crashed frameworks like most underdeveloped countries where actually, everything 'works' and in fact in the meantime, nothing 'works', does assumed numerical favorable position matter? With the end goal of this article, I'll concentrate for the most part on Nigeria as a practical topic. Nigeria, a country of nearly or maybe, more than 200 million individuals with probably the most degenerate personalities, disposition or more all, mindset. A standout amongst the most instructed all around yet, 'rationally poor with darken outlooks'. The dominant part's attitude is degenerate with wistful standards and epileptic temperances and qualities along these lines, their initiative and government turns into the most comfort and simple focuses to property fault. Maybe, fault 'neo-expansionism'? Dirty move, attempt once more!

A country that worships debasement and its indecencies, where individuals approve impropriety and idolizes nonentities. A country where regarded media stages (Journalists and Bloggers) promptly acclaim and worship 'Criminals', 'Hooligans', 'Gangsters', 'Killers' and corrupt practices at a cost. A country where diligent work is disgraced and undermined, where resourcefulness and trustworthiness are considered shortcomings.

A country that chose to office, a blamed killer in confinement. A country where 'sick gotten' riches is celebrated, delighted and glamorized; where, 'Pastors' just educate and lecture 'how to get rich' principles. A country where 'Priests' are 'smaller than usual divine beings' as far as they could tell and rights therefore being worshiped in this manner, coercing, misusing and mentally programming their individuals. A country that is enormously religious for the most part because of monetary hardship. They accept unequivocally in ordinary 'predictions' than God, Bible and Quran.

The extremely well known English precept, "need as the mother of creation" appears to have significant special cases from an African country's specific situation and guise. In Nigeria and lion's share of African nations, "need appears to breed fear, gift, average quality, debasement, silliness, ineptitude et al." Majority of us are results of a tainted framework (since autonomy) or presumably a maladroit of a subjective good foundation. I decline to apportion fault to not only the pioneers but rather, everybody as we've been brought and reared up in the casing of one-sided acknowledge, dogmatism and epileptic perspective of reality and presence of mind. A country of over or right around 200 million individuals couldn't ad lib contrasting options to essential frameworks the 'pioneers' denied its kin.

A seventeenth century French Philosopher, Joseph de Maistre once stated, "Each country gets the administration they merit". Since freedom, Nigeria and the vast majority of her African partners have been limitlessly 'fruitful' at reproducing 'pioneers' with corroded thoughts and degenerate outlooks, pioneers with the most noticeably bad conceivable idea of life. Obviously, these 'pioneers' aren't outsiders be that as it may, subjects of the land. For as long as 60 years, this has been the stories of practically every African country everybody still accuses the 'pioneers' for their pickles. Maybe, could the French Philosopher be correct? Aren't these 'pioneers' intelligent of the genuine picture and manner of their masses?

Does a 'Gandhi', 'Mandela' or 'Lincoln', ever exist among the 200 million 'Mùmús' in Nigeria? Where are the dynamic personalities? Formal instruction isn't sufficient... is 'Upset' the appropriate response or Mediocrity proceed with its run the show? May God favor the 'Powerless and Hopeless'! Gladly Nigerian!

'Mùmú' is an everyday and casual slang for being 'simple'.

It's the ideal opportunity for all and each Nigerian to change their mindset towards progressiveness and desert all these backward methodologies and strategies that is never worked since accomplishing autonomy.

It's the ideal opportunity for each Nigerian and African in like manner to challenge 'the present state of affairs' of defilement, financial hardship, tribalism, neocolonialism and numerous different components obstacle to consistent development and advancement of their countries.

Calm Grid Founder Comes Clean

Forbes: Please disclose to us how you established Sober Grid?

Mann: A couple of years prior, I was far from home at the Sundance Film Festival and I needed to interface with other individuals for both social exercises and strong association. This kind of association is particularly imperative when one is far from their set up calm encouraging group of people. I knew other cell phone applications existed to associate different populaces, for example, Grindr for gay men, Untappd for brew darlings, and Runkeeper for sprinters, so I was stunned to find that no comparative application existed to interface individuals in recuperation. I promptly perceived how advantageous such an application would be for individuals in recuperation, or individuals as yet endeavoring to get calm, and I set out to assemble.

I began it since I saw an essential, yet around then neglected, requirement for individuals in recuperation from liquor and medication dependence on find and interface with their associates. I entered recuperation at 23 years old, and I have depended on the help I got from calm associates to accomplish and keep up my restraint.

Forbes: What is interesting about this?

Mann: Sober Grid is interesting in light of the fact that it takes peer bolster into the computerized age. Calm Grid empowers individuals in recuperation from dependence on find and interface with others close-by, and additionally to take advantage of a worldwide calm group for prompt association and companion bolster every minute of every day, straightforwardly from their cell phone. In-person bolster gatherings are staggeringly gainful, yet they are not offered in all areas or consistently of day. Calm Grid expels boundaries that hinder individuals from discovering support wherever and at whatever point they require it, and puts this help in a man's pocket, enabling them to get to it "on request" with the touch of a catch.

Forbes: Do you have any fascinating stories about this organization has helped individuals?

Mann: Absolutely! We get input from Sober Grid individuals once a day, telling us that the help they got from others on Sober Grid shielded them from backsliding. Backslide, particularly when managing substances like heroin and different opioids, is truly a decisive situation. So Sober Grid is in fact sparing lives.

One story emerges specifically. A California man in his 20s - I'll call him Ryan for our motivations. Ryan was on Sober Grid and connected for offer assistance. Another part in the California region addressed his call. Ryan was battling with heroin enslavement and needed quick treatment. Sadly, he couldn't manage the cost of it all alone and was experiencing difficulty finding an office that would acknowledge him. The Sober Grid part who helped him contacted their associations and could get Ryan a grant and into a treatment focus. Ryan went to treatment and has been calm since. He credits the help he got through Sober Grid with sparing his life.

What additionally emerges for me are the various routes in which Sober Grid individuals are utilizing the application to address their own particular one of a kind needs and circumstances. For instance, we had one client in a remote range in Alaska who was battling, naturally, with sentiments of confinement. He didn't approach face to face bolster, and preceding finding Sober Grid, was endeavoring to defeat fixation all alone. Through Sober Grid, he could discover a group and a feeling of having a place that helped him with his battle. He could get the help he required, and associate with others at whatever point he expected to, in spite of his physical disengagement.

Forbes: What will this organization resemble a couple of years from now?

We are additionally discharging a stage that uses computerized reasoning and machine learning keeping in mind the end goal to extend on the off chance that somebody will backslide. The stage will likewise distinguish in the event that somebody has backslid so they can be associated with recovery suppliers.

Forbes: What might you say to individuals supposing in regards to turning into a business person?

Mann: I would exhort that on the off chance that you need to be a business visionary, you should take a shot at a venture you feel enthusiastic about. It is an extraordinarily troublesome endeavor that is both physically and sincerely exhausting. In any case, it is likewise a staggeringly compensating endeavor when you are attempting to manufacture something you are energetic about.

Reasons You Should Consider Becoming an Entrepreneur - how to become an entrepreneur at 18

To some people, it is a sermon. There are however, a group of people reading this that are trying to decide if they should make the leap into entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, but if you do have the bug to experience freedom and still generate income, entrepreneurship can lead to an amazing life. You get to set your own schedule, you get to call the shots and answer to yourself.

Each of us spends 40-plus hours of our week in some form of work. That time could be spent doing something you love or doing something that makes you miserable and affects all other areas of your life. Here are five reasons why you should consider spending those hours on something that’s yours.
Related: 50 Signs You Might Be an Entrepreneur

1. The opportunity to control your destiny.

When you work a 9-to-5 you’re at the mercy of your boss and the company you work for. They can decide to hire or fire you, they decide how you spend your eight hours every day and what happens in those eight hours affects you beyond that time.
You have little control and in exchange, they give you a paycheck. The problem is today’s economy. Gone are the days of working at a company for years and retiring with a pension. These days entrepreneurship is the new pension plan. Your income is too important to leave in the hands of someone else.

2. Freedom to spend your time doing what’s important to you.

Life is short and time is the one thing we’ll never get back. This makes time one of your most valuable resources and you should treat it accordingly. Entrepreneurship gives you the ability to balance your time.
If you have family or other life circumstances come up, you can decide to forgo any work for that day. You don’t have that kind of flexibility at a job. Your work should fit into your life, not the other way around. The life part has to come first.

3. Unlimited earning possibilities.

At a job, your earning potential is set by the job or a contract a union negotiated. You can get raises and promotions, but those are the exception, not the rule. Your earning potential is capped no matter how long you stay at that job.
To be fair, you could earn nothing at your business, but those who jump into entrepreneurship are self-motivated to build a profitable business. Entrepreneurs aren’t happy with the status quo and continue to grow their business and income. The beauty of entrepreneurship is that there are no gatekeepers to keep your income regulated.
Related: You Might Be an Entrepreneur If You Meet These 3 Conditions

4. Location independence.

The beauty of having your own business is the ability to create something that supports you no matter where you are in the world. There are more than 2.5 billion people online daily, which means you could have an unlimited customer base and build a location-independent, online business.
No longer do you have to be tied down to any one location. You can have freedom to be where you want. This is great because different environments can foster innovation and creativity. Last year I got to travel to 12 countries all over the world and still made money. You just can’t beat that.

5. The chance to leave a lasting legacy.

When you build your dream business it can carry on to your kids and their kids. What starts as a quest for freedom can end as something that’s in your family for generations. A company like Ford has been passed down through the generations and continues to impact lives.
If your business is started out of something your passionate about, that passion will impact lives for years and generations. You can leave your children something you’re proud of.

13 Reasons Why Education Transformation Is Slow, Challenged

Recently, Modern Learners wrote a piece about pending educational transformations. Naturally, this is not a new topic. Many have predicted sweeping change before. However, this time, the author indicates that it’s going to be different. (See complete article here: https://modernlearners.com/why-this-time-is-different/)

The article’s initial contention has always been mine. The question is asked: “Given the number of books that have been written and papers that have been presented around  school change over more than 50 years by some very well informed and esteemed writers, why has there been so little change in schools and why do you think it will be any different this time ?”

First of all, I hope the writer is right. I would love nothing more than to see our entire educational system truly evolve and adapt into real 21st century models relevant to today’s students, economy, culture and technology. The problem is that my shoulder angel and devil are battling it out. It’s classic optimism vs. traditional pessimism.

Since I began teaching in 1990, there has been an on-going reform movement, in many cases discussing many of the same things, but truly little has changed. We have been hearing terms such as relevance, engagement, application, higher level thinking, personalization, technology for a long time. And yet, when one looks closely, very little has changed overall in terms of our educational system and culture.

In addition to the question above, I would also add to that list thousands of keynote speakers, blog posts, consultants and conference sessions. All have been calling for sweeping change, while often presenting the path on how to do so.

The thesis here is that we are now in the perfect storm - educationally, politically, economically, culturally, technologically - for real change to occur. My shoulder angel wants to believe, but my shoulder devil is struggling to find the confidence. I agree that we are in unprecedented times and it seems the time is riper than ever for real change. But in addition to the factors being in place that are referenced above, I think there are still too many things in the hearts, minds and souls of all the stakeholders that will derail us once again.

Here are my 13 reasons why education will continue to be challenged when it comes to change:

1. Our Cultural Definition Of School - A True Learning Organization?

As a culture, we tend to not truly look at school as a place of learning. We want to, we pretend to and we come close to at times. But truly our definition of school, especially high school, is really not about a culture of learning. Ask most parents and students about what their expectation of high school or what they are looking forward to. You’ll get more responses about athletics, co-curricular, extra curricular, dances and so on than you will about real learning. Sure, Don’t get me wrong. I love things that are fun and social. But why can’t our learning be fun and social? Why can’t the learning be so compelling and transformational that it’s all we talk about? Since it’s often not, we use the other things (extra and co-curricular) to do that for us. We cannot continue to design and base our schools on the extra - we have to make the meat the best part. We somehow need to establish with all stakeholders what our purpose is what will take priority. Culturally this will  be difficult as we have allowed school to be defined dozens of ways - and it’s now time to make sure we are truly focused on creating happy, creative, inspired lifelong learners of all students. Anything else or less will not suffice.

2. Parents

Some parents are aware that schools needs to change. They are aware that world is rapidly changing and school should reflect that. However, too many parents want school to be like what they know and experienced. Saying things like “it worked for me” in regards to homework, discipline, lack of student voice and choice, outdated pedagogy, etc. are not an answer to what our students need to be successful today and especially tomorrow. Parents need to also put learning, real learning, at their top of their school/education agendas (see #1). Parents need to become more informed about the new economy and globalized world in which our students are entering.

3. Students

It would be so easy to leave students off of this list. Indeed, they are really victims of a system that has not evolved as much as they have...or even the world has. However, the potential for them to have an impact is incredible. Many students are dissatisfied with their school and educational experiences. However, they, like most of us, need to turn complaining/whining into advocacy. It’s their education and their futures, so they should be the most important voice. Students need to learn to intellectually demand what they want or need from their schools. And they need to do this to parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, community leaders and anyone who may listen willingly or not. I think when the majority of students truly demand something better, the tipping point will occur. Indeed, students do have more educational options that ever before. They are also more savvy, connected and capable than ever before. Apathy needs to be converted to Advocacy.

4. Teachers

Teachers are obviously integral, and maybe the most important, when it’s all said and done in terms of what our schools are truly like. There are many things that have worked against teachers  that have been out of their control - class sizes, bureaucracy, weak leadership, funding, initiative fatigue and more. However, there are things that are in their control, for the most part, that they need to begin to lead. I don’t want to argue for or against teachers’ unions. That being said, it seems that weak, or even criminally negligent teachers, have been allowed to survive. Almost every school in America has a teacher or two that the entire staff knows is bad for kids. But somehow, we have learned to tolerate and accept this. Just like law enforcement, we have to be responsible for our own. We have to collectively and collaboratively address those teachers. They need to get on board or get out. You know who they are and so do they. They give the profession a bad name and we can’t afford that any longer. We need to redefine the role of a teacher and celebrate how wonderful it can be. If we do, maybe more will go into the profession. Teachers need to take charge and become their own curriculum creators, curators and advocates. If they continue to teach to a textbook or test, they can’t help to get what they get.

5. Administrators

We have been asking our administrators and site leaders to be instructional leaders for several years now. However, too many are not. Too many administrators focus on facilities, discipline, extra curricular, etc. Many are not even interested in curriculum & instruction. Many were not teachers for very long. Many were not distinguished as a teacher at all. Too many are disconnected from professional development, technology, lifelong learning, professional learning networks, modeling and so much more. Despite the poor examples of leadership that we are often seeing in the current political environment, school leaders need to read, study and model themselves after successful 21st century leaders in industry. They need to practice and preach openness, accessibility, flexibility, bottom up approaches, democratization and so much more. Site leaders need to be the living examples of fearlessness, risk taking, innovation, experimentation, early adopters, pioneers and cage rattlers.

6. Models

In the end, we have few models to look to for in terms of change and inspiration. Yes, they are there. Yes, there are charters, choice schools, magnets and others that are doing many things right. But the dominant model of comprehensive education is outdated. And we tend to perpetuate or clone the outdated model. Most schools are similar more than they are different. It is changing and there more models than there were 20 years ago. Indeed, efforts like the XQ Super School Project (https://xqsuperschool.org/) are steps in the right direction. But we need to see examples across all communities, all districts and ultimately we need to challenge/incentivize one another to create new examples that are truly unique/responsive. We can’t look to higher ed as they are even more behind. Checking out Finland is great, but we need to see more models here in every neighborhood. Every district and community should be creating innovative, unique programs to help individual students and the entire system.

7. Innovators Go Elsewhere

We might preach innovation and creativity, but we tend to marginalize both teachers and leaders who are ‘pushing the envelope.” Indeed, some of them leave education altogether and many are beaten down to conform. We need to talk less and walk more. If we want innovation and creativity, we not only need to model it, but we need to embrace, chase it and challenge it. Compounded by a national teacher shortage, we’re going to need to redefine the education profession and attract young people who are, by nature and experience, entrepreneurial, innovative, creative, fearless and self-starters.

8. The Colleges & Universities

Too much of our system, especially our secondary system, takes its marching orders from the colleges and universities. Even though our college graduation, completion and success rates are dismal, they dictate the requirements, expectations and compliance items to our high school. Less than half, in most cases far less, of our high school graduates start go straight to the a university. So why do we have the university dictate our curriculum. Ironically, a large percentage of our higher ed. Instruction is further behind than K-12. Their dominant instructional model is still lecture and note taking - truly the lowest form of learning for students. Since a K-12 education is the expected standard for all, then that should be the priority and design a better system from within. Higher Ed. needs to listen, collaborate and follow a whole lot more.

9. Compliance

Like so many entities in our systems, we spend more time on compliance that we do on the Four C’s, pedagogy, student relationships, school culture, community connections and so many others. Seems like most things we do in order to deliver a standard, right or expectation ends up becoming its own bureaucracy. Think about Special Education, 504’s, ELL, Accountability, Attendance, Accreditation and so many more. Intentions are good, but implementation and practice become something else. Have we asked our schools to do much? Possibly and probably. But beyond that, what is our focus? What are in the business of doing in school? Until we can all answer the question together, we will focus more on compliance vs. learning. We need to radically simplify oversight, documentation and accountability.

10. Size

Many of our high schools today have class sizes in the 40’s. Simply, we all know that smaller is better. High Schools with 700 students have different cultures and opportunities than those of 3,000. Classrooms with 25 have a very different culture typically than those with 45. And yes, fixing this is easier said than done. Yes, it may cost more. But the cost of not fixing it is astronomical. If you want all students to be engaged, participating and have effective feedback, then we cannot expect a teacher to facilitate five or more classes of 40+. We know we need personalization, project-based learning, students producing high quality and public work, technology integration, real world applications and community interaction, work-based learning and more. However, if we continue to put 40+ in our high school classrooms, the more we will continue to not deliver on our promises and continue to set up our rooms for lectures and note taking.

11. The Buildings & Physical Spaces

Remember that our schools were originally designed to be ‘institutions.’ I know that we cannot build entirely new schools everyday. However, we also don’t need to live with buildings and classrooms that haven’t changed in 50 years. Do we need the same old dreary rooms, hallways and offices? How many of us are excited to walk into our school buildings? Are they comfortable and inviting? One, we should invest in our spaces. Two, if we build new schools, we can do them smarter. Instead of building the $200 million high school complex, we could build 15-20 small schools that are unique, specialized and contemporary. There has been a recent focus on classroom design and it’s the right direction. It’s another area where we may want to ask the customer (the students) what works best for them. I can tell you desks in rows are not on the menu.

12. School Boards

Local control and leadership of our schools is in theory great ideas. Our communities should have the right to create the best and most unique schools. Ironically, most of our schools don’t differ very much. Indeed, too many are just clones or duplicates of schools in their neighboring district. It seems like too many school board members may be there for the wrong reasons. Too many are their for their own political career advancement, own political agendas and pet projects. School board candidates need to be truly unselfish individuals who care about the kids in their community and want to work collectively to have something better, more innovative and more relevant than ever before. Status Quo people can run for church fundraising chair or local lodge leadership, but not for the people who have the fate of our future in their hands.

13. Our local communities and leaders.

Schools are not going to be the exceptions in our communities. If our communities are disconnected, violent, poverty-stricken, in disrepair or worse, how can we expect our schools to be different or the shining star on the hill? Schools need to engage the larger community in every way and local community leaders/advocates need to engage with the schools diligently.

Hoping The Aforementioned Writer Is Right, Hoping That I’m Wrong

I truly want my shoulder angel to win. I see lots of signs and reasons to be optimistic. But my experience, as well as awareness of the challenges, often give my shoulder devil much to smile about.

(photos courtesy of foter, pixabay, shutterfly, allthefreestock)