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When we started R.E.A.L.® Discussion, our original program was geared toward high school-aged students. As R.E.A.L.® grew, we listened to and learned from educators who said they wished their high school students had this kind of training earlier – and consequently, we added programming to support discussion skills scaffolding in Middle School. We kept listening,…
a Guest Post by Robert Barnett What can machines do better than humans? And what can humans do better than machines? In the world of AI, this is a question on many people’s minds. And for those of us in education, it feels particularly relevant. Teaching has always been a fundamentally human endeavor, and the…
I remember the moment I began to believe in the power of R.E.A.L.® Discussion. It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in 2013: Grandfriends’ Day in my eighth grade classroom. The kids had decided they wanted to show their grandparents a R.E.A.L.® Discussion, and I had pulled together a packet of primary sources related to the…
Spencer Burrows is the Equity and Civic Engagement Coordinator and 11th Grade Dean at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, CA. What follows is a conversation between Spencer and R.E.A.L.® founder Liza Garonzik. This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity. Liza: Spencer, we are so excited to have you here. You are so committed to…
by Dr. Ralph Covino Much has, obviously, been written about the dawn of the AI era with all the wild speculations about how AI will change the face of education as we know it. Some predict it will not only revolutionize education, but eliminate some sectors of it; they may well be right and only…
Last week, we were thrilled to welcome friend-of-R.E.A.L.® Jeff Wetzler to give a keynote presentation to our intrepid R.E.A.L.® educators. Jeff, the former Chief Learning Officer of Teach for America, is the co-founder of Transcend, an organization that strives to support school communities as they create extraordinary, equitable learning environments, and the author of Ask:…
It’s clear that AI will have a role in the future of schools – and teachers are (perhaps surprisingly) receptive to that idea. A 2023 Walton Family Foundation survey found that 61 percent of teachers see legitimate educational uses for ChatGPT. In our conversations with R.E.A.L.® faculty grappling with the impacts of ChatGPT on class…
Grant Lichtman is a renowned thought leader on the transformation of K-12 education who works with educators to develop a comfort and capacity for change in a rapidly changing world. Grant spent two years on a cross-country journey exploring deep wells of cultural wisdom that our tech-centered culture has eroded. What follows is a conversation…
Name: Hannah Higgin Hometown: Wallingford, CT Current School & Teaching Assignments: History Department Chair at the Westover School in Middlebury, CT. Describe yourself as a student in three words: Curious, studious, and engaged. Who was your favorite teacher and why? I loved my high school English teachers. Two who meant the most to me are…
Every teacher of young people today knows that, in many cases, the kids are not alright. Anxiety and depression are at an all-time high, cancel culture runs rampant, and many young people spend more time conversing on-screen than they do in-person. As educators, what can we do? How can we arm students with the skills…
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