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it’s what you do with the content that matters.

Memorizing & regurgitating falls miserably short of equipping our students.

We’ve made education about manipulation and hoops instead of inspiring our students to pursue learning that matters to them — learning that can help them make a difference in our communities and the world.

I believe students are fully competent to be co-creators of their own learning environments. I believe that students can change the world; they are not the future; they are right now. I believe that students need skills that go far beyond the content of most curricula. I believe that students want to learn, but often they lack the environment that sparks the emergence of passionate, life-long learners. I believe that my students have a voice and it should be heard. I believe students can read at their appropriate grade level and still be illiterate. I believe that each of my students has unique talents and interests that should merge with our learning environment at school. I believe my students are not empty vessels waiting to be filled.

I believe that my students need to develop metacognitive skills and make their thinking visible. I believe that students are fully capable of differentiating their own learning. I believe my students are creative and can teach me important things. I believe school shouldn’t be a place where young people go to watch older people work hard. I believe, if given the chance and the right support, my students will become more than they ever thought they could be. I believe that once students begin to see their talents and gifts, they will grow in confidence.

As a teacher: I believe that my classroom should be a place of joy, engagement, learning and play. I believe that I should be less helpful. I believe that I should ask more questions, and offer fewer answers. I believe that I should model what learning, failing, grit & perseverance look like. I believe that I should take risks, even when I’m afraid. I believe it’s crucial to use content to teach skills. I believe that the most important question I often ask my students is, “What do you need?” I believe that I am not the all-knowing guru, nor do I want to be. I believe I need to be transparent with my learning and who I am. I believe that kids need a life outside of school, so I don’t believe in homework — at least not the rote, meaningless stuff that’s usually assigned.

'drop out'

high schools every day, close to 1.5 million a year.

According to one estimate, if the numbers of young people leaving school early could be cut by 50 percent, the net gain to the U.S. economy from savings in social programs and gains in additional tax revenues could be around $90 billion a year - that's almost $1 trillion in just over ten years.

One of the themes of TEDTalks Education is that current policies are based on a tragic misdiagnosis of the problem. They treat education as an industrial process rather than as a human one. They are driven by a culture of testing and standardization that has narrowed the curriculum and sees students as data points and teachers as functionaries rather than as living breathing people.

To improve our schools, we have to humanize them and make education personal to every student and teacher in the system.

The key to personalizing education is to invest properly in the professional development of educators. As Bill Gates argues, teachers need mentors too.

7,000

Teaching is an art form. Great teachers know they have to cultivate curiosity, passion and creativity in their students.

achievement soars when teachers fire the imaginations of their students with a true spirit of inquiry.

All students have their own stories, motivations and circumstances and teachers have to connect with them personally.

"Everyone has a story," she says. "Everyone has a struggle and everyone needs help along the way."

We have millions of young people walking away from education, he says. But "right now, we could save them all," if we're prepared to innovate fundamentally and not just do more of the same.

"Every child," she says, "deserves a champion who will never give up on them... and insists they become the best they can possibly be."

give them the creative freedom to innovate and do their jobs within a proper framework of public accountability.

There are those who say that we can't afford to personalize education to every student. The fact is that we can't afford not to.

A 2009 study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, D.C., cites cursive as important for cognitive development because it “requires fluid movement, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skill development.

“We tell our students ‘We’re teaching you this style, but as you get older, you’ll develop your own style,’” said Thea Thies, a fourth-grade teacher at East Elementary School in Waukon. “That’s the fun part.”

Thies said she cites historical documents and handwriting analysis as examples of cursive handwriting in effort to increase her students’ enthusiasm of the subject.