Education X.0

Lesley guides AJ and Christy to discuss the influences that transformed them from traditional classroom teachers into revolutionaries who believe we need to redefine education.   Guests Tedd Wakeman and Joe Wise reflect on their roles as AJ’s “partners in crime.”

Thanks to Covid isolation and people seeking connection and entertainment, role-playing games like “Dungeons and Dragons” are having a moment. The Education X.0 team (AJ, Christy, and Lesley) discuss how to use the principles of role-playing games in the classroom, no wizards or orcs required.

Why does education have to be so serious?  AJ and Christy discuss how teachers can incorporate play into their classrooms to increase student engagement and encourage resilience. Guest contributor Brie Tompkins, an educator at the Sycamore School, explains how her kindergarten class learns while creating games.

Whether it's baseball cards or bottle caps, humans have a natural impulse towards collecting things. How we sort and evaluate our collections involves curation, a critical thinking skill with many academic applications. AJ explains how to use the Taxonomy Toolkit to assist in curation.

• Lisa Frank Sticker
• Cult of Pedagogy
• Sycamore School Blog: Shoe Creation Project
• Music: Shannon Lauren Callihan
• Film: A Beautiful Mind
• BOOK: Protocol: The Power Of Diplomacy And How To Make It Work For You by Capricia Penavic Marshall

Vlogs, blogs, memes, tweets, photo essays, movies, tv, songs -- these are all ways modern people communicate. So why do schools focus solely on formal, academic writing? English class needs an overhaul. We suggest using the Communications Literacy Toolkit.

Readicide by Kelly Gallagher

Pew Research: Who Doesn't Read books in America?

On Writing by Stephen King

The Origins of Cthulhu and The Moon Lord! A Terraria Theory!

Sycamore School: Communications Literacy Toolkit

Question: What causes anxiety, fights over homework, and an unhealthy obsession with multiplication tables? Answer: Outdated concepts about what math is and how to teach it.  Discover how to change your relationship with math and how the pursuit of the world’s best milkshake can increase your number sense.

KQED: Help Your Child Avoid Math Anxiety

YouCubed math

School is an institution with a long history, but it has taken many forms over the years. The current form is not handed down from on high. It is one design, and we can change designs to something better. Join us as we talk about how the current incarnation came to be and how we can update it.


Pieter Schlosser - Paax Music

2020 has given parents a front-row seat to the realities of their child’s life in school.  The problem isn’t merely the virtual classroom; most of what happens in school lacks relevance and “stickiness.” AJ and Christy explain why and how an educational model that was “good enough for my generation” is failing kids today.

Links to topics from the show

After the Pandemic, a Revolution in Education and Work Awaits - Thomas Friedman

World Economic Forum skills

The Global Achievement Gap - Tony Wagner

Inventor of Hot Cheetos: Richard Montañez

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

ENIAC Computer

NY Times: Does Math Make You Smarter

Cultural Literacy: E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

Paax Music- Pieter Schlosser

When you think about school, you have all kinds of images and associations. I'll bet you remember sitting is desks in rows with a teacher lecturing at the front of the class?  Maybe you experienced something totally different?  The world has changed a lot in the last 25 years - Let's talk about how education can change, too.
This is Education X.0 - Welcome to our first episode!

links referenced in the show:
Lesley Wake Webster IMDB

Most Likely to Succeed documentary

Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Klaus Schwab: World Economic Forum

Michael Bay: IMDB

Pieter Schlosser: Paax Music