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Heather Staker – Blended Learning
Heather Staker is a researcher and author in the United States who has spent 15 years studying innovation in education and the rise of blended learning as the enabler of student-driven learning. She is the co-author of the Amazon bestseller Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools (San Francisco: Wiley, 2015); The Blended Workbook (San […]
Heather Staker is a researcher and author in the United States who has spent 15 years studying innovation in education and the rise of blended learning as the enabler of student-driven learning.
She is the co-author of the Amazon bestseller Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools (San Francisco: Wiley, 2015); The Blended Workbook (San Francisco, Wiley, 2017); and the popular report How to Create Higher Performing, Happier Classrooms in Seven Moves: A Playbook for Teachers (Christensen Institute, 2017).
Heather has been a featured presenter in over 125 radio, television, podcast, webinar, and live events worldwide and in legislative hearings in the United States as a spokesperson for student-centered learning.
As the founder of Ready to Blend, Heather leads a team of 150 facilitators in the United States, Middle East, and South America who have certified to deliver blended-learning workshops to their teachers. She holds a BA magna cum laude in government from Harvard University and an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Business School. She is the mother of five children and lives in Austin, Texas.
Key Takeaways:
00:14 Heather’s favorite thing about working with Young Learners
03:19 The Story behind the foundation of Ready to Blend
10:49 The Role of Adults in a Blended Learning Environment
16:37 Advice for Families and Educators who wants Change in the Current System
21:57 Is this Pandemic the best time to go non-traditional for learning?
26:47 Alternative Education, Is it an advantage or disadvantage to get into an elite university?
32:47 Metaphor that describes Blended Learning
Quotes:
“Try to honor their (children’s) own path and help them find their gifts that they want to lean into.”
“One piece of advice is to do your due diligence about the micro school networks that are emerging right now, because it takes a substantial amount of intellectual property to create a really good curriculum or to know how to curate it correctly.”
“Most children want to feel like they’re successful every day and they want to feel like they’re having fun with friends.”
“For parents that are really wondering what to do right now with their high school students, I think this is a window of opportunity to be more experimental and still assume that they’re on track for college.”
Social Links:
Heather Staker
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherstaker/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/hstaker
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Heather-Staker/e/B00M7ESIA6%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
Ready to Blend
Website – https://www.readytoblend.com/micros
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/readytoblend
Podcast – https://www.readytoblend.com/podcast
Books
Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools (San Francisco: Wiley, 2015)
North Star Teens
Learning is Natural. School is Optional. Website: www.northstarteens.org Email: info@northstarteens.org Phone Numbers: 413-582-0193 Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/NorthStarTeens School Pictures School Information Year Started 1996 Which age level do you cater for? 12-19 What makes your school unique? North Star is not a school. We support teens to use a self-directed approach, with homeschooling being the legal
Learning is Natural. School is Optional.
Website: www.northstarteens.org
Email: info@northstarteens.org
Phone Numbers: 413-582-0193
Social Media:
School Pictures
School Information
| Year Started | 1996 |
| Which age level do you cater for? | 12-19 |
| What makes your school unique? | North Star is not a school. We support teens to use a self-directed approach, with homeschooling being the legal mechanism. |
| How do you empower parents? | We encourage parents and teens to build their own weekly routines and learning plans from scratch, based on their own interests and concerns. |
| What makes your school, the best place for teachers to work? | Teachers have nearly full freedom to decide what to teach, how to work with teens, and what hours to work. We are collegial and close. |
| Describe the school environment. | Welcoming. Supportive. |
| What advice can you give to parents who are seeking the right school choice for their kids? | Maybe the right choice is “None of the above.” Consider the idea of community-based, supported, and empowering independent approach. |
Kenneth Danford – School is Optional
Kenneth Danford is the Co-founder and Executive Director atNorth Star: Self- Directed Learning for Teens in Sunderland, Massachusetts. He has been working intensively with teenagers and their families since 1991. He is the founding Board Member of Liberated Learners through which he consult with others interested in the North Star model. He was a middle
Kenneth Danford is the Co-founder and Executive Director atNorth Star: Self- Directed Learning for Teens in Sunderland, Massachusetts. He has been working intensively with teenagers and their families since 1991. He is the founding Board Member of Liberated Learners through which he consult with others interested in the North Star model. He was a middle school social studies teacher in Prince George’s County, Maryland, then in Amherst, Massachusetts, left to found North Star. He had a Masters in Social Studies from Brown University and lives in Montague, Massachusetts, with family. Lastly, he is the author of “Learning is Natural; School is Optional,” book.
Key Takeaways:
00:00:13 The change in Learning Experience and how it all started.
09:01 The Little Clubhouse as an Alternative Way to Live for Learners.
14:58 Recognize the Terror and Hardship as a way to face Frustrated Afraid Parents.
20:06 North Star and Liberated Learners Experience Outside of United States
28:08 Get to Know the Forming Community of the North Star: The Staffs.
31:04 Broader Perspective on Liberated Learners.
40:12 Three Different Stories with One Great Mission of Letting Kids Be.
46:47 Managing Distraction Among Kids.
51:37 Dealing with Parents’ Frustration and Disillusioned Lack of Progress on their Kids.
1:03:50 North Star accepting Distance Members.
1:05:34 The Metaphor that represents the learning model of North Star and Liberated Learning Centers.
Quotes:
“We don’t make everybody do a little bit of everything every day.”
“The North Star approach offers teens a headstart on life. When I say school is optional, school is optional for learning and school is optional for a credential. “
“Everything I’m saying hinges on the concept that there is an alternative to traditional high school that is functional to go to university or to be included into the, you know, Professional World.”
“When I say school is optional, for me, it has all the tension and emotion of like summer camp is optional. “
“Kids could go to school and like it or not like it. It’s going to be okay and it’s not going to define their lives. “
“ We believe that kids can do okay just fine, without school, the same way they do just fine, after school or during the summers.”
“Things have to be resolved and not lived with a lot of times. Some things can be lived with, but a lot of things can’t.”
“They get to a point where they want to just know that they’re doing the thing they’re doing for themselves of their own free will and not out of fear or pressure from their parents.”
“Don’t compare what your kid is doing to some idealized homeschooling life. Let’s compare what your kid is doing in their weekly routine right now, to what it would be most likely going on for them.”
Social Links:
Kenneth Danford
LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-danford-38124628/
Website – http://www.kennethdanford.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ken.danford.7
North Star – http://www.northstarteens.org/
Liberated Learner – https://liberatedlearners.net/