Exactly…

The Classroom Is Obsolete: It’s Time for Something New| The Committed Sardine: “The classroom is a relic, left over from the Industrial Revolution, which required a large workforce with very basic skills. Classroom-based education lags far behind when measured against its ability to deliver the creative and agile workforce that the 21st century demands. This is already evidenced by our nation’s shortage of high-tech and other skilled workers—a trend that is projected to grow in coming years.”

There’s a great deal of importance in realizing that design is not just bells and whistles… “design is how it works” to quote Steve Jobs.

This is especially true in the format of classroom design. Too many of us (teachers) rely on pretty posters and whiteboards to construct what we think are appropriate learning environments without considering the massive amount of research on the human brain pointing us in other directions for classroom setups.

The coming education revolution will not only be in terms of what we learn, but how and where we learn.

A little glimpse into the mad head of a self-professed lover of teaching Middle School..

Why I teach middle school… – sciteach3′s posterous: “I absolutely love the fact that I do not know what any given student will be like from one day to the next because it will depend on what is happening at home, what their “BFF” did behind their back, what somebody said about them that morning on Facebook, just how late they stayed up without their parents knowing so they can play Halo, or even because of what they percieved was “a look” given to them in the hall way.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Go read the whole thing but don’t blame me if you want to quit your job and join the few, the proud and the brave of us who teach Middle School.

This is from an 8th grader, folks…

Upstate Thinkers: “a thought network, or think tank, for the youth of the upstate. currently only serving spartanburg.”

What are you doing with your internet access?

Rock it, Devin.

Simply put, a fantastic post…

Imagine | TechCrunch: “We see our own possibilities in Steve Jobs. We are not afraid of losing him but of having to make things happen ourselves. And like the big brother he is, he loves us and we him for not laying the sins of the father on us but giving us the high sign to get on with it. It may be a slow fade ahead but he’s doing even that with a fierce grace. As we enjoy his work, he is rewarded in the best way he could possibly imagine.”

Seriously, go read the whole thing and try to keep a dry eye (especially if you know your music history as you should).

Our Head of School, Tom Trigg, at Carolina Day passed this post along to new faculty just now…

Not Your Father’s School: A Letter to New Teachers: “Lastly, before your orientation begins and the whirlwind of opening weeks sucks all the idealistic notions out of your head for a while, go to your school’s website and re-read the mission statement. If there are sections on values, and history, read those, too.

Because this is a profession of ideals. Somebody started your school because they believed in something worthy, and the school has evolved in certain ways because of those beliefs. Sometimes the beliefs get lost, sometimes they get transmogrified, and occasionally a school has had to stop and then start all over again in a new direction. But believe me, those worthy beliefs are fundamental to the enterprise.”

Great thoughts on a busy Thursday morning before the kids show up next week.

Can’t wait.

For my 7th Grade American Language Arts and Social Studies Class this year.

Can you name them all (click to embiggen)?

From one of my awesome students (who has a great looking blog… I’m jealous):

Twitter vs. Facebook : A Realistic Approach « Devin Tonhaeuser: “Twitter or Facebook? That’s the big question. Honestly, there is no better or worse here.”

Go read and follow his blog. We need to encourage more young folks to think these types of thoughts.

Keep it up, Devin.

Yesterday was our first day back at Carolina Day (click the link for pictures of us and such)…

New Teachers Arrive on Campus…excitement is building.: “Today was especially exciting as our newest faculty members arrived on campus for two days of new-staff orientation before all the teachers and staff arrive this coming Monday.”

Going to be an amazing year.

More soon on that.

I’m getting better at this…

ThinkingDaily: Time Changes Everything | Thinking.FM: “Who needs changing?”

Download the mp3

Still awkward and hard to get back on the podcasting horse, but I’m glad I’ve restarted Thinking.FM.

If you’re into such things and enjoy podcasts, head over and give a few listens.

It’s also on iTunes if you’d like to search there.

Good stuff (I think).