Edutopia.org Blogs
Sometimes inspiration isn't enough. When people see something great, they want the recipe: How do I implement this at my school? What does it take? Where do I go for help?
We've profiled hundreds of exemplary programs and smart practices on this Web site. We want these islands of excellence to become the norm for excellent schooling in the digital age. It's time to scale these programs up!
So, through our network of professional colleagues, we'll be using our cumulative experience and collective intelligence to post items -- innovative, creative, mostly practical, and sometimes unusual -- to get you started on your journey to improve your classroom, school, or school district.
Input from you, our readers, will help us provide the content most relevant to your interests and needs, so post your comments and questions. But, more importantly, because you are innovators in your own right, we expect that many of you have the answers we're missing. Join our network of problem solvers, throw in your two cents, and let's change the world.
Contributors
Elena Aguilar, educator
Elena Aguilar has taught in Oakland, California, since 1995. She was a founding member of ASCEND, a small autonomous school in the Oakland Unified School District, which opened in 2001. At ASCEND, she taught history and language arts to children in grades 6-8 using project learning. Aguilar has also taught at the elementary school and high school levels. She is a lecturer in San Francisco State University's Department of Elementary Education and an instructional coach in one of Oakland's middle schools. She works closely with BayCES, the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools, to dramatically improve educational experiences, outcomes, and life options for students and families who have been historically underserved by their schools and districts.
Rebecca Alber, consulting online editor, Edutopia.org
Rebecca Alber is dedicated to the transformation of public schooling. Working with Center X, a part of the University of California at Los Angeles's Graduate School of Education, she observes dozens of classrooms each year and, through professional development, assists teachers and schools in meeting students academic needs and implementing best practices. Alber's other educational work consists of instructing online teacher-education courses for Stanford University as well as being a passionate advocate for those students whose voices are often not heard. She likes to spend her free time surfing or reading.
Suzie Boss, journalist
Suzie Boss writes about the power of teaching and learning to improve lives and transform communities. Coauthor of Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age, she draws inspiration and insight from educators who push the boundaries of the traditional classroom. Previously an editor and writer for the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, she is on the National Faculty of the Buck Institute for Education. She has also helped nonprofit organizations design programs that teach both youth and adults how to improve their communities with innovative, sustainable solutions.
Edutopia
The Edutopia Blog offers news and insights into what's happening at The George Lucas Educational Foundation, including our latest initiatives and research and information about our organizational culture. We hope this interactive feature will further our efforts to provide you, our visitors, with the inspiration and information you need to replicate real-world examples of what works in K-12 public education. Thanks for supporting Edutopia!
Owen Edwards, editor and author
Owen Edwards, a former executive editor of Edutopia magazine who joined The George Lucas Educational Foundation in 2004, is now a contributing editor to the magazine and Edutopia.org. He is the founding editor of Parenting magazine and previously worked for Hearst Magazines, CBS Magazines, and Time Inc. Edwards is also the author or coauthor of several books, including Quintessence, Elegant Solutions, and Netscape Time. He has had columns in many magazines, including American Photographer and GQ, and for several years, he has been writing the Object at Hand column for Smithsonian magazine.
Maurice Elias, psychologist
Maurice Elias, a professor in the Psychology Department at Rutgers University, focuses on development of positive, constructive life paths for children and youth and the organization of opportunities to allow this to happen in equitable ways. Elias is director of the Rutgers Social-Emotional Learning Lab and principal investigator for its Developing Safe and Civil Schools initiative. He is also academic director of Rutgers's Civic Engagement and Service Education Partnerships program, coordinator of the university's internship program in applied, school, and community psychology, president of the Society for Community Research and Action and the American Psychological Association's Division of Community Psychology, and a founding member of the Leadership Team for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
Stephen Hurley, classroom teacher and educational adventurer
Stephen Hurley has been involved in public education in Ontario, Canada, for almost 25 years. He has served as a teacher and a curriculum and information technology consultant, as well as an instructor in the preservice program at the University of Toronto, and has, most recently, returned to the classroom to begin arts@newman, an alternative, arts-based program for grades 7-8 designed to capture the imagination of students who often find themselves on the edge of school. Hurley believes our classrooms are destined to be transformed by turning them inside out, allowing our students' everyday cultures and literacies to play a larger role in how we think about schools and education. Hurley is also an advocate of developing closer links between university research communities, teacher-education programs, and field-based practice. Hurley lives with his wife, Zoe, and his two sons, Luke and Liam, outside of Toronto.
Ben Johnson, education consultant
Ben Johnson is an education consultant for EduTEKS and uses his passion for engaged, aligned instruction to help small-school systems. He also teaches online for the University of Phoenix's teacher- and principal-preparation program, and is a learning coach for the Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP), which helps principals of low-performing schools increase their personal leadership. He has served as an administrator in large and small schools, as principal at a charter school, and as an educational-program manager for the University of Texas at San Antonio. He most recently served as an assistant superintendent of the Natalia Independent School District, located in a small, rural community just south of San Antonio, Texas, where he helped bring about major improvements in student learning. He has a master's degree in educational administration from California State University, San Bernardino.
Katie Klinger, educator
Katie Klinger, a recognized leader and mentor in educational technology, was the primary designer of the National University Virtual High School and lead faculty statewide for National University's educational-technology master's degree program. In her spare time, she designs math and science project-based programs that foster investigative, hands-on learning. Her INSPIRE (Innovative Stories and Project-Based Learning Inspires Relevant Education) seminars role-model effective teaching strategies to inspire young women to pursue opportunities in math or science. She was the lead investigator for a four-year, $1.27 million U.S. Department of Education grant through the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) initiative to recruit more women professionals as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educators, working closely with higher-education and master teachers to design lessons that helped more than 14,000 educators enhance their STEM skills. She frequently partners on mini-grants with Imaginary Lines, headed by former NASA astronaut Sally Ride, to empower elementary school and middle school girls to explore the world of science. Klinger's passions are digital equity and access, leading to her involvement with Project Inkwell; in addition, she works year-round with teachers and students in both traditional and charter schools in Hawaii, California, and the Navajo Nation. She was honored to sit on the Steering Committee for the International Society for Technology in Education's Digital Equity Summit at NECC 2007, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Bob Lenz, founder and chief education officer, Envision Schools
Bob Lenz is chief education officer and cofounder of Envision Schools, where he and his educational-support team help school leaders and teachers create the culture, processes, systems, curriculum, and assessments that produce powerful teaching and learning, a community of learners, and results. Lenz has served public education as a teacher, a student-activities director, a school-reform leader, a consultant, and a principal. He earned a bachelor's degree from St. Mary's College, in Moraga, California, and a master's degree in education from San Francisco State University. He lives in San Rafael, California, with his wife, Cathy, and their children, Evelyn and Brendan.
Betty Ray, Edutopia community manager
An early participant in AOL and First Class BBS communities, Ray witnessed the power of the Internet to revolutionize interpersonal relationships back when most companies were trying to sell pet food and patio furniture online. Her first professional community role was at Minnesota Public Radio in the mid-1990s, when she produced site content and online events for MPR listeners. Since then, she has led community initiatives with myriad organizations, including a community Internet-radio network, a social network for people over 40, a green-media company, and a group of brain researchers. Prior to joining Edutopia, Ray produced a plan for an arts and science fair for kids in grades K-12 and their teachers and parents. A kid-centric version of Maker Faire, this event is a project-based festival at a public arts facility in Oakland, California. She lives in an Oakland artists' community with her husband and young daughter.
Heather Wolpert-Gawron, teacher
Heather Wolpert-Gawron teaches language arts for grades 7-8 and is a speech-and-debate and podcasting coach in California's San Gabriel Unified School District. Her students can be heard on iTunes (keyword: Bulldog Radio). A ten-year teaching veteran and a California regional Teacher of the Year, she's also a Writing Program Fellow at the University of California at Irvine. She is a contributor to Teacher Magazine and has been featured in Imagine magazine and Arts Education in the News. She is also a member of the Teacher Leaders Network, working on virtual learning communities and online collaborative environments. She frequently presents at conferences, passing on strategies related to peer teaching, collaboration, and mentorship. Heather's musings on educational policy, curriculum design, and daily school life can also be read at www.tweenteacher.com.
