I’m making reading sexy I have a voice for mime It would interfere with napping TED used up all the ideas There is no return-on-investment I waste all of my time on Twitter Circus monkeys at least get a banana and no one expects them to build the tent The Deep State My iPod broke The world needs fewer monologues and more dialogue Veteran educator Dr. Gary Stager is co-author of Invent To Learn — Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom and the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. He led professional development in the world’s first 1:1 laptop schools and designed one of the oldest online graduate school programs. Learn more about Gary.

Under the best of circumstances, 98% of school is language arts and the remaining 27% is dedicated to a thing called math. Every other subject is fungible. Under the best circumstances, art, music, drama, and making things are under constant threat of underfunding or elimination. …

During Gary Stager’s recent Ask Me Anything session with Deborah Meier, her Habits of Mind and Ted Sizer’s Essential Principles for schools (especially secondary schools) were discussed. Deborah Meier’s website Deborah Meier’s Bridging Differences column with Diane Ravitch, et al. Books by Deborah Meier Documentaries made about Central Park East…

Problem — “Defund the police” is an in-artful term that fails as a “brand” because it requires explanation. …

I love that Sesame Street and CNN wanted to co-host a town hall on racism for children, but boy did they mess things up. First of all, you cannot mix Abby Cadabby talking to toddlers into a show also instructing parents on how to talk to their children about racism…

There are a lot of discussions underway about what school will or should look like when face-to-face sessions resume. Sadly, the images of teachers barking commands from meters away at children in cells bolted to the floor six feet apart are as pedagogically toxic as they are medically perilous. It…

You know what school leaders need right about now? More unsolicited advice. With few exceptions, I have restrained myself from adding to the oh so clever pile of pandemic tips and tricks circulating on the Internet. Since educators are reacting to an unforeseen crisis with continuous challenges and no end…

There’s no shortage of articles, web sites, top 1,000 app lists instructing educators what to do during the pandemic and when school returns to “normal.” All of that “help” may be counter-productive. You deserve a break. If you’re not feeling up to reading, cooking, playing an instrument, or coding right…