Rusty Walker

Educator forever seeking to promote human flourishing for students & society. PBL. Generalist. Feminist. Ungrader. Wikipedia fiend. Pizza eater. BLM. He/him.

[Rusty Walker @RWalkTheWalk]

In PBL we bring chunks of marble for students to sculpt into their vision. And even then, sometimes it’s more like bringing directions to a quarry & some digging tools 🤷‍♂️ The more rigid and microplanned you are, the more fragile & narrowly inclusive you are. Take the reins off!!

[Mindy Ahrens @mindyahrens1]

This is what co-designing projects with learners looks like:
1. Share out a general project idea in a nutshell and then...
2. let learners go at it! Adding questions, suggestions and connections
The project will morph and build from there #learnercentered @sisuacademy

[Monte Syrie @MonteSyrie]

Once upon a self, criticism made me defensive.

Now, it makes me reflective.

For there’s likely some truth to be found, even in the words I don’t want to hear.

Never got better from being defensive.

Almost always gotten better from being reflective.

Reflective self.

Better self.

[Cal Bears History @CalBearsHistory]

When Carol Greider was a child, dyslexia made it difficult for her to read and spell. Put into remedial classes, she thought she “was stupid.” She was rejected by 11 graduate schools for low GRE scores, but accepted at @Cal. In 2009 she won the Nobel Prize. #DyslexiaAwarenessDay

[Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn]

The late James Moffett suggested this slogan for elite, selective schools: "Send us winners and we'll make winners out of them!"

[Dan Martin @danmartin_7]

I think the better approach to managing AI in a teaching & learning context for me is to promote the value of writing as one of our most effective tools for critical thinking & remove the pressure to produce perfect writing. More low stakes writing.

[Grow Beyond Grades @GBGEdu]

Student learning journeys are as individualized as fingerprints. Letter grades do not capture this journey; they rank and sort students by measuring the immeasurable—learning. @GoSunDevils @GBGEdu #growbeyondgrades https://t.co/uDXgA9lONM

[Rusty Walker @RWalkTheWalk]

Love doing this with colleagues. We call it a dilemma consultancy. Someone brings a problem they’re having in their practice, poses a focus question, gets clarifying questions and probing questions and suggestions from each other member of the group, forms an action plan.

[Grow Beyond Grades @GBGEdu]

How successful was my education if all I have to show for it is a high school GPA? Was I ready to stand out from the crowd, or to receive a certificate honoring my conformity to the system? @PeterHostrawser @GBGEdu #growbeyondgrades https://t.co/fHNwDUAnmV

[Jennifer Berkshire @BisforBerkshire]

The first excerpt from our forthcoming book, The Education Wars, is out from behind @thenation paywall. @Edu_Historian and I argue that a big part of the reason public schools are so vulnerable is that we now treat education as just another consumer good https://t.co/49K7BkKvYW

[Tom Vander Ark @tvanderark]

"The schools of the future that our society needs won’t come from transforming our existing schools. They’ll have to come through launching new versions of schooling from new value networks." @ArnettTom @ChristensenInst https://t.co/CR9D86vxg0

[n+1 @nplusonemag]

Now out from behind the paywall: Laura Preston visits a conversational AI conference.
https://t.co/KQwFaWcJZT

[James Bedford @james_s_bedford]

If educators are already turning to AI tools to complete mindless tasks, why then wouldn’t students do the same? The problem isn’t ChatGPT, it’s boring assessments that are easier to grade and which mean nothing to those completing them.

https://t.co/gUZUgw13Jx

[Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn]

When ed tech asks "How can we deliver content to students more efficiently?", we're discouraged from asking how to move beyond a content-delivery conception of learning. Or whether efficiency matters most. My 2023 Ed Week essay on "sneaky conservatism": https://t.co/2mhtaNQRhA

[Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn]

Ted Sizer urged us to shadow a high school student for a full day or 2 to understand what it's really like to attend a traditional H.S. - & thus how urgent it is to rethink this model of schooling. One teacher did so & emerged shaken. An eye-opening read: https://t.co/qC9heVkjuj

[Michael Harriot @michaelharriot]

Not only is @nhannahjones correct, the data shows that the average public school teacher is more educated AND more experienced than the average private school teacher. In fact there’s only one category that private school teachers excel in:

Being white

[Jeffrey Austin @JAustinEDU]

Students have big questions about the purpose of education, but school has provided few answers beyond indefinite future rewards.

These rewards are not a great incentive anyway, but they're even less of a great incentive when the future looks increasingly bleak + uncertain.

[Kyle Wagner @kwagssd3]

Honoured that @Getting_Smart was so willing to share my work, and the 12 shifts courageous STUDENT-CENTERED classrooms are making to give learners more ownership, agency and voice! Book coming in August!! @LindaAmici @Ed_by_design @CoraEdTech @desertclimber