Hacking Your Education

The challenges of the 21st century require a new vision and new type of thinking that breaks free of the original models - this is especially true in education.  It's no surprise I am opposed to the rigid K-16 model of education based on "seat time" and the Carnegie unit.  With the rise of MOOCs and concurrent enrollment classes, school systems and communities are starting to see the light and craft innovative approaches to education.  Homeschooling has always bent "the rules," but the Un-schooling model has always fascinated me more.  And this year at the TIE (Tech in Education) Conference in Copper Mountain, Colorado, I learned a great deal more through the story of Logan LaPlante.  Logan's 13-minute TED talk is worth viewing:

Logan was part of a presentation on "Hacking Your Education" presented by Canadian teacher and blogger Michelle Cordy, and that idea has resonated with me ever since.  The idea of "hacking" is not simply limited to nerdy guys spreading computer viruses from their parents' basement. No, not at all. Hacking is about breaking free from the conventions that demand an established path or approach to living and problem solving.  It can be "hacking your life" as a way to be more efficient and - dare I say - happy, or it can be hacking your job or institutions or daily decisions or ... really whatever you want it to be.  In fact, a growing number of people are "hacking their religion" these days, as the rigid institutions of the major religions are leading people to mix-and-match beliefs and describe themselves as "spiritual, but not religious."

A couple of great resources on "hacking your education" are Dale Stephens and Anya Kamenetz, who are innovative writers and thinkers committed to presenting alternatives in a world that is increasingly closing off the traditional pathways to success.  Stephens' book Hacking Your Education should be required reading for everyone who will engage with education institutions in the coming years.  In fact, he reminds of the classic quote from Matt Damon in Good Wil Hunting when the savant janitor schools the Harvard boy, telling him, "You paid $150,000 for an education you could have got for $1.50 in late charges at the local library."  Classic.  And true.  Dale Stephens has established himself with the help of entrepreneur Peter Thiel with the organization and development of a great resource website - UnCollege.  Doing similar work with a comparable message, Kamenetz has been ringing the warning bell for her generation for a few years now since writing Generation Debt.  While that is an interesting, albeit depressing read, I highly recommend her second book, DIY-U: Edu-punks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education. 

Regardless of who you are, the idea of education hacking is worth checking out.  It's liberating, and it's the kind of innovation that not only made America strong, but will lead it into the future.

The Sugar Habit - Ditching a Dangerous Routine

I've noted before a desire to eat healthier and promote better nutrition.  In fact, following the information and conclusions of Dr. Robert Lustig, I once posted that "Sugar Is the Devil," and that isn't too far off the truth.  It is a truly harmful component of the average diet, precisely because it is used to such excess. The sad part of America's sugar addiction and consumption is that so much of it is unintentional, as processed food makers have seen fit to slip sugar into nearly everything we eat, from ketchup to bread.  Often this comes in the form of high fructose corn syrup - which has received plenty of bad press over the years, much of it deservingly so.  For a little more information, summing up a lot of the conventional wisdom on sugar, check out Maura Kelly's piece How to Ditch the Sugar Habit, published in the Fitness Magazine on Yahoo Shine.

Kids Menus Are ... Pathetic

"So ... your kids eat that food?"

It's surprising how often we hear that question when discussing a restaurant with people we know.  My wife and I are foodies, and we enjoy good meals at nice restaurants.  And, we spend a lot of time together as a family, which means our kids enjoy good food as well.  Recently, we had a wonderful meal at The Warming Hut in Breckenridge, Colorado where we dined on beef, bison, and lamb sliders, green lip mussels, bison and chorizo chili, and boar sausage.  It was a fabulous meal - which I accompanied with five pours of nice wines for the "Wine Wednesdays" tasting.  On other days we enjoyed calamari, truffle fries, steamed mussels, and more at great places like Modis and Hearthstone, also in Breck.

My kids enjoyed it as well - especially the boar's sausage.  Yet people are surprised that my kids would eat "that food."  As if it is some bizarre concoction of flavors that would gag an eight or eleven-year-old.  Which brings up the issue of the Kids Menu.  You've seen it - it's the same at every restaurant.  There's grilled cheese, pizza, hot dogs, PBJ, chicken tenders, etc.  The food all tastes the same, and it is nothing but starchy and salty.  How someone can justify paying twelve dollars for a PBJ at a nice restaurant is beyond me.  Yet, people do it because they claim "That's all my kids will eat."

Uh, no.

Kids certainly have more limited and distinct tastes than adults.  The subtlety and richness of many spiced and savory foods are sometimes too much for young palates.  However, there is no reason to simply stuff their mouths with mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders just so Mom and Dad can "enjoy" a nice meal.  Kids tastes develop along with their parents, and if kids will "only eat that," it's much more a parenting issue than one of true palates.  

Next Food Network Star - Chris Ousted from Weak Contestant Field

For the show that gave the Food Network Guy Fieri, Arti Party, and Jeff the Sandwich King, this season of the Next Food Network Star is the weakest field of contestants I have ever seen. There are no true "stars" anywhere on this show, and it really makes me wonder about the selection process that led to these contestants. If these are the best potential Food Network Stars, then something is seriously wrong with the screening process.  Were there truly no more interesting, engaging, and skilled chefs and food personalities desiring to be a Food Network Star?  Sad.

This week gave contestants the opportunity to develop their own food products and market them to some "high powered" food executives.  Finally, a show about the contestants' point of view and what they can offer the Food Network.  Granted, there is a "pie guy," a "meat on the side," a "vintage modern," a "southern ... whatever," a "culinary rebel" (again?), and a BBQ guy; but the presence of a truly compelling culinary vision has been lacking among these lightweights and amateurs.  And, that probably led to the elimination of Chris Hodgson - who is a skilled and interesting chef, but really couldn't "sell" to the judges, even though he claims selling food and his food vision is his whole identity.  Chris Hodgson will, thus, return to his successful restaurants - unless he can salvage salvation on Robert Irvine's second chance show. (see below)

The winners for some strange reason this week were Nikki, Russell, and (ugh!) Demaris.  While Nikki still seems to have the most marketable vision with meat-on-the-side, she is still so clearly not-ready-for-prime-time.  Russell is interesting and the bacon candy looked quite tasty - but there is still something so flat about him.  Demaris ... don't get me started.  She is simply "blah," and there is nothing compelling or skilled about her.

As far as the bottom crew is concerned, Chad continues to putter along, but Rodney is simply gross.  His presentation is sloppy and unappetizing - and I am a pie fanatic.  But watching him cook simply repulses me, and his offerings never look at all appealing.  His crass, folksy, loud persona simply adds to the sloppiness of his presentation, and he is not a Food Network Star.  Stacy is really failing on the point of view angle - "Vintage Modern"?  What?  Didn't the "Retro-Rad" girl fail with this last year? And Stacy is simply the mom who has a child with eating conditions, and she runs a restaurant.  So what.

Very unimpressed lately.  Bob Tushmann warned Stacy last week about the dangers of being "too perfect."  Well, he must love this year's crop because they are nowhere near close to perfect.

** SPOILER ALERT

Robert Irvine has screwed up again, and he has some weird fascination with Lovely's mediocre cooking skills that lead to utterly simple and forgettable dishes.  Chris Hodgson took potato chips and re-crafted them into a clever theme of fish-and-chips by creating a soup from the potato and adding some salmon.  Lovely crushed some potato chips and made a crumble.  Lovely did nothing, absolutely nothing with the ingredient.  She is not star quality.  Sorry Chris.

Google Hires People Who Do Stuff

Talent, according to Google, is over-rated.

Recently, I noted how Google is no longer using its brain-teasers or transcripts or GPA to screen candidates because the company - the best of data crunchers - has determined such measures are a complete waste of time.  I was a bit skeptical of completely dismissing those measures - especially the brainteasers questions because I like them - though I appreciated the feedback from Google's head of PR who explained that what really works in finding quality applicants is "asking them what they have done."

In researching another idea about "un-schooling" I ran across references to writer and speaker Tucker Max who has also written about Google's hiring approach in "Don't Look for Talent; Hire People Who Do Things."  Tucker's piece articulates his own experience with the interns and assistants he's used, and he can validate the benefit of hiring people who know how to accomplish something.

So, as I've long noted to my students, people should focus on developing talents rather than simply getting good grades or, worse, following their passion.

Diet Before Exercise

Diet Before Exercise is pretty much the obvious approach for anyone who truly studies health and nutrition. Plenty of people exercise regularly yet seem to never lose those love handles. That's because you can't spot exercise fat away. It's about diet, and more notably about sugar and white carbs. Cutting those out is the key to any and all weight loss. That said, it's the Fourth of July and I'm heading for a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie. Good eats. Stay healthy.

Donate to Wikipedia - It's Fundraising Time

It's fundraising time for Wikipedia. 

This invaluable site used by nearly everyone uses no ads and takes no government money. If you use it, you should support it. The average donation is$30, but any amount helps. A small donation is not too much to ask to maintain a solidly credible and commercial-free source of information.

Can We Have Competency-based Education

As we consider the necessary redesign of schools, specifically less rigidity and more choice in schedules and post-grad and seat time, the issue of competency based education must be a primary consideration.  In "Considering Competency-Based Education" education advocate and author Tom Vander Ark concedes that the "transition will be tough."  This is a complicated issue - for the definition of competency is ambiguous at best.  Students in my English classes may write thirty essays during the year, and while some maintain A's throughout, I would hesitate to argue they are competent - and "done" - after only a few.  Education builds on itself, and there is much to be said for  repetition and practice and expertise.  That said, Tom's points are well taken and should be part of a more efficient system.

Next Food Network Star - Viet Goes Home

For a young culinary artist who once bested Bobby Flay on the Iron Chef, Viet Pham has been so underwhelming on the Food Network's Next Food Network Star competition that the judges were finally left with no choice but to end his run at the title.  Underground chef Russell lived to cook another day, but only because the judges felt his "throw to commercial" saved him.  That concession to Russell seems pretty weak, especially because there is little doubt that Viet could cook Russell right out of the kitchen.  Though, clearly neither of these two men was ever going to win the competition to host his own show on the Food Network.

The winner this week was Stacy who absolutely nailed her live presentation from the grill with a couple of butchers.  Strangely, Food Network head of programming Bob Tuchman actually admonished her for being "too perfect."  He actually asked her to reveal "some imperfection" in the kitchen.  What the heck, Bob?  That's the worst bit of commentary I've ever heard from Bob, and it was completely unnecessary.  As a viewer I might be looking for some humanity and something to connect with or relate to, but I am certainly not looking for a Food Network Star to reveal imperfection.  The comments on Stacy should simply have been, "Excellent job this week. You're safe."

The fascination with keeping Demaris Phillips around continues to baffle me - and actually bother me quite a bit.  Demaris is not cute, not sweet, not engaging, certainly not sexy, and, by no means an exceptional chef.  She is a southern woman - period.  And if the Food Network wants another southern female chef, they should just hire someone.  Demaris is not it.  What did she even "cook" this week?  She made some sort of cocktail that she couldn't even identify and explain - and which she apparently had help with.  Keeping Demaris around is a huge mistake - and an insult to a skilled chef like Viet.

The rest of the field is interesting ... and not. Nikki clearly has a point of view, and it was impressive to see her pull off the fried chicken.  Clearly, she is a bit ameteur-ish, and there certainly isn't a Bobby Flay authority with Nikki.  But she can cook, and she is sweet and engaging on camera.  Chad is still Chad - competent and mildly entertaining.  Chris can cook, but probably won't bring it all home.  And, Rodney continues to be ... strange.  He's clearly not a skilled chef, and he has a very limited point of view.  None of his offerings have been impressive, and his presentations are, at best, too much Rodney.  

Nice week for Stacy - probably the Next Food Network Star.  Keep it up, Nikki and Chad.  And, Demaris, please go away.

Students Need Choice/Options, says Aurora Superintendent Barry

Former Aurora Public Schools chief John Barry offers important and valued insight on Colorado school reform, calling for increased school funding and more options and choice for students.  The funding issue is a contentious one in a tax- and spending-averse state like Colorado, but Barry's comments on student choice should find common ground and open ears.

For quite a while now, I've been arguing against the rigid education system in America that places unfounded emphasis on "seat time" and bachelor degrees.  In a changing world of diverse needs and interests, the singular focus on nineteenth century education system is outdated and harmful to the current generations of students.  Cultural critics as varied as Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute and Sir Ken Robinson, formerly of the Arts in Schools Project have challenged the factory model of education that puts students on an assembly line toward one goal.  Though Barry and Murray and Robinson have divergent views, the common thread is offering more choice to students.

As John Barry aptly notes, I would like to see is the rejection of a "single magic solution" to the ills of public education. Complex systems fail in complex ways, requiring complex solutions. We must labor to develop a strategic "mosaic" of integrated programs and initiatives that accelerates student achievement and closes the achievement gaps. This synergistic approach must adapt to the specific culture of the school district community with the understanding that there is no single solution for public education in this country. The pieces of the mosaic must come together to form a picture of students in their caps and gowns — students who are well prepared for college and career success.

The country needs a new "vision" that is not singular, but a shared vision.  Barry asserts, we must completely reconsider what success for school looks like. In today's world, when some students are years behind and others are achieving at levels beyond their years, we must eliminate traditional walls, clocks and calendars. The school day and school year should ensure that students are learning based on their achievement levels and not because of seat time. We must provide students, who start school two or three years behind, with enough quality schooling to help them catch up and reach grade level success. By the same token, we must provide eighth-graders who are doing 11th grade math or 11th graders taking college courses the continued opportunity to excel.

That said, education reformers should emphasize a break from a focus on bachelor degrees, an increased emphasis on the arts and creativity, an expansion of post-school options via career and technical education (CTE), and flexible school schedules and non-traditional settings. Students should be empowered by giving them choice on the education they desire and need.

Kirsten Dunst in REM's Good-bye Video

I was thinking about really "thoughtful" songs and videos today, and I can't quite take myself away from REM's "goodbye" song and video We All Go Back to Where We Belong.  Of course, the line where Michael Stipe asks, "Is this really what you want?" makes us all scream quickly, "No!" because we don't want to lose one of the most iconic bands and voices of the past fifty years.  But, we just as quickly pause and reflect on what a beautiful gift Michael and the boys have given us as a departing gift.

I was wondering about the choice of Kirsten Dunst for the video, though I resisted efforts to investigate her inclusion in the video because it is just so sweet and innocent.  In fact, Michael notes this "this might be my innocence ... lost." Dunst so aptly reflects my thoughts on the song as she simply reflects on the beauty of REM's music and Stipe's lyrics, and you can almost tell she is moving back and forth between the actual lyrics and her own personal connections and interpretations.

In Kirsten's words, "He's my neighbor in New York. And I've been an R.E.M. fan since I was a little girl. I would jump around to 'Stand' in front of the mirror. And, I've known him throughout the years, and he just casually asked me. I didn't even know it was supposed to be their last video. And I was like, 'Yeah, of course.' He wanted to do it in the vein of an Andy Warhol screen test, and I sat there. We did three different takes, but the one take he used, he sang ["We All Go Back to Where We Belong"] a cappella to me. So, if I look embarrassed and giggling, it's because I'm so overwhelmed that he's singing to me. It was really special."

Yes, it was really special.  And it makes me think and smile.  Like REM always has.

Lovely is not The Next Food Network Star

How can a person who wants to be the Next Food Network Star think it's acceptable to use "pre-packaged" pizza dough to make a doughnut?  How?  Who does that?  Lovely Jackson went home Sunday night after that culinary debacle, especially as Alton Brown noted this is two "food fails in a row." The woman simply could not cook, had no real persona or camera presence, and just wasn't going anywhere as a contestant.

Next Food Network Star's A Food & Film Feature was an entertaining competition for this round, though I am still not a huge fan of team format's allowing some people to squeak out a win.  Demaris is the perfect example, as I can't fathom how a Southern girl who doesn't know how to adequately salt grits is going to be a Food Network Star. And after this week in the news, I am wondering whether Demaris wants to rethink her plans to be the next Paula Deen. That's not a role model anyone should want to emulate.

Several finalists continue to disappoint despite notable food chops - Viet coming to mind immediately.  He should be able to cook circles around anyone, but his dessert of berries and cream was weak, and he is never going to develop a camera presence that is engaging enough.  Of course, the same can be said for Chad.  Chad's food is clearly accomplished, but I don't see nearly enough personality to anchor a show.  For a show that produced Guy Fierie and Jeff the Sandwich King, Chad is a shadow of a TV person.  It doesn't seem in the cards.

Chris is fun and clearly a skilled chef, but what is his point of view?  And the same goes for Stacy - what will she be able to bring to the line-up.  There is some creativity there, as the smores with popcorn was truly innovative, and I want to see more.  But Rodney's Pie Man schtick has worn thin.  Both Rodney and Russell are short for the chopping block because one can't seem to cook and the other can't seem to engage any audience.

For my money, food blogger Nikki Dinki has the best shot at establishing her own show.  She is finding her voice and camera presence, and she is truly the only finalist who actually has a marketable point of view.  The "Meat on the Side" concept is truly unique and it's a show that Food Network does not yet have.  As a viewer I would be interested in what Nikki has to offer, though I don't think she is by any means a truly accomplished chef - and that's a downside.  Hopefully, she can continue to grow.