Leadership and Activism

Work and Play, Play and Work

Posted by Paul Oh ⋅ March 18, 2012 ⋅ 3 Comments

“Play is the child’s work” is a line made famous by the early childhood educator, Maria Montessori. I interpret that to mean many things. But perhaps most importantly I believe it to mean that through play, children – and I would say youth and adults, too – make meaning of their world. This idea is … Continue reading »

Creating Places for Play

Posted by John T. Spencer ⋅ March 18, 2012 ⋅ 5 Comments

I thought about making videos. I thought about starting a Bring Back Recess Tumblr. I’m still going to lobby locally – at my school, within my neighborhood, among my state representatives. However, I’m also going to play. Everywhere. I’m going to push to preserve places of play. (See, alliterative word play right there) A Place … Continue reading »

Do teachers play?

Posted by Chad Sansing ⋅ March 16, 2012 ⋅ 3 Comments

Our #letkidsplay campaign reminds me of this conversation from back in the day on the Coöp. Play is really dangerous to school. It’s very subversive. It’s antithetical to the status quo; it’s the generative, imaginative, organic solution to the problem of schooling, which is moribund, petrified, and mechanical. It’s adaptive; it sheds and assumes rules … Continue reading »

Creating a Powerful Education for Our Children (Guest post by Beth Kimberly @Playworks)

Posted by dloitz ⋅ March 15, 2012 ⋅ 1 Comment

originally posted on bkimberly’s Playworks blog Although we probably didn’t think of it this way at the time, our childhoods were full of informal education outside of school. This is where we were taught social norms, empathy, teamwork, problem solving and leadership by playing and learning from other, older kids. Unfortunately, it seems that many … Continue reading »

Bring Back Recess #letkidsplay #bringbackrecess

Posted by John T. Spencer ⋅ March 13, 2012 ⋅ 7 Comments

My son is a perpetual powder keg of passion. You wouldn’t know that at school. He’s quiet, but not shy. He walks in straight lines and listens closely. He doesn’t look like the type of kid who needs recess. After all, he behaves. He doesn’t fidget too much. However, the minute he gets home, he … Continue reading »

Teaching Civic Engagement: Dear Mr. President (Guest Post by Kelly Dillon)

Posted by dloitz ⋅ March 8, 2012 ⋅ 1 Comment

The paradox of democracy is this: those who don’t have it fight tooth and nail to get it while those who have it watch football. I realize this statement is hyperbolic, but I wanted to make a point. On President’s Day, I began thinking about the tremendous impact political freedom has on our lives, and … Continue reading »

How Should Education be Transformed? (Guest Post by Occupy High Students)

Posted by dloitz ⋅ March 6, 2012 ⋅ 7 Comments

Note: I have been following the Occupy High Students since October 2011, and have been inspired by their continued effort to transform their own education and to show people of all ages that “student’s do care about their education”. I have also had the pleasure to work and get to know many of them along … Continue reading »

I OCCUPY EDUCATION… (Guest Post By Lonni Gill, Ph. D) #occupyeduM1

Posted by coopcatalyst ⋅ March 1, 2012 ⋅ 4 Comments

Submitted by Lonni Gill, Ph. D for March 1st Day of Action for Education I occupy education every time I walk into a classroom full of interns who can not wait to get into their own classrooms and teach. I occupy education every time I converse, discuss, and have discourse with my interns about how … Continue reading »

Pathways to Healing After a School Shooting

Posted by Neola Young ⋅ March 1, 2012 ⋅ 3 Comments

I’m a self-proclaimed news junkie. Every morning, I begin by scanning through major news sites online, by poring over Facebook and Twitter posts, updating myself with what’s going on in the world. This continues throughout the day, just as it did on Monday, when I saw BREAKING NEWS cross my Twitter feed with a statement … Continue reading »

March 1st Day of Action for Education Transformation Blogger March #occupyeduM1

Posted by coopcatalyst ⋅ March 1, 2012 ⋅ 5 Comments

Today all over the country students, educators, parents and community members are taking part in Day of Action for Education Transformation. There are many ways to support this day of action. One way is to make your voice heard online. Today we will be collecting blog posts and twitter/facebook status message and pictures and posters … Continue reading »

On hope and action

Posted by Chad Sansing ⋅ March 1, 2012 ⋅ 5 Comments

I have concentrated less on the blogosphere lately and more on conversations in and around smaller, more immediate issues and opportunities than wholesale educational transformation – for which I feel a certain amount of ennui at present, but not so much in the “boredom” sense of the word. I am kind of stuck in the … Continue reading »

Acknowledging Our Assumptions

Posted by Paula White ⋅ February 19, 2012 ⋅ 2 Comments

I don’t quite know how to begin this or how to write it, or how to end it, but there are thoughts hiding in my mind, flying around in it, and scurrying here and there that just won’t let me NOT write. I think the unrest began consciously at Educon, when Kirsten Olsen summed up … Continue reading »

Occupy High: A Protest of Education Funding Cuts (Guest Post by Kalila Bohsali)

Posted by dloitz ⋅ February 16, 2012 ⋅ 5 Comments

Everyone has heard about the Occupy Wall St. movement and its spread to involve most major cities and small towns of the U.S. All of this talk about revolution and corporate take down has stirred the hearts of activists internationally, sparking the hearts of thousands of people, but what does it have to do with … Continue reading »

#DLDay: democratize composition

Posted by Chad Sansing ⋅ February 1, 2012 ⋅ 11 Comments

I’m not exactly sure how to characterize my role here at the Coöp (Moderator for Life? El moderate?), but in real life I am quite the nerd. I am neither hip nor handy, but I follow my passions resolutely and synthesize what I learn from them into my work as a public school teacher, which I … Continue reading »

Hack It, Jail-Break It or Restore Back To Factory Settings?

Posted by John T. Spencer ⋅ February 1, 2012 ⋅ 5 Comments

just a thought . . . PHOTO CREDIT: RACHEL VACEK ON FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS * * * John T. Spencer is a teacher in Phoenix, AZ who blogs at Education Rethink. He recently finished Pencil Me In, an allegory for educational technology and A Sustainable Start, a book for new teachers. He also wrote the … Continue reading »

Cooperative Catalyst

Search