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  • A quick test. #

  • I’m hoping that this WordPress post will appear on the Fediverse. #

  • We’ve spent 130 years indoctrinating kids with the same structure. Now, as some of us enter a post-lockdown world, I’d like to propose a useful (though some might say radical) way to reimagine the curriculum. #

    It’s been a century of biology, chemistry, arithmetic, social studies and the rest. So long that the foundational building blocks are seen as a given, unquestioned and unimproved. The very structure of the curriculum actually prevents school from working as it should. #

    Some big things: #

    1. Stop wasting so much food.
    2. Write more.

    Some points

    I think that a significant shift is overdue. The one below could work for kids from the age of 6. It doesn’t eliminate the fundamentals of being educated, but it puts them into context. More important, because it’s self-directed and project-based, kids can choose to learn, instead of being forced to. #

    We’re living in the age of an always-connected universal encyclopedia and instantly updated fact and teaching machine called the Net. This means that it’s more important to want to know the answer and to know how to look it up than it is to have memorized it when we were seven. Given the choice between wasting time and learning, too many people have been brainwashed into thinking that learning is somehow onerous or taxing. #

    Introducing the modern curriculum

    The basic foundation is student-centered, self-directed projects. In service of learning to solve interesting problems and how to lead as well as follow. And to support that, the “courses” are practical tools students can use on their projects. #

    Statistics–seeing the world around us clearly and understanding nuance, analog results and taxometrics (learning how to sort like with like). Realizing that everyone and everything doesn’t fit into a simple box. Learning to see the danger of false labels and propaganda, and the power of seeing how things are actually distributed. #

    Games–finite and infinite, poker, algorithms, business structures, interpersonal relationships, negotiation, why they work and when they don’t. We all play them, even when they’re not called games. #

    Communication–listening and speaking, reading and writing, presentations, critical examination and empathy. Can you read for content? Can you write to be understood? Can you stand up and express yourself, and sit still and listen to someone else who is working to be heard? What happens when we realize that no one is exactly like us? #

    History and propaganda–what happened and how we talk about it. More why than when. The fundamental currents of human events over time. #

    Citizenship–Participating, leading, asking and answering good questions. As a voter, but also as a participant in any organization. #

    Real skills–Hard to measure things like honesty, perseverance, empathy, keeping promises, trust, charisma, curiosity, problem solving and humor. #

    The scientific method–understanding what we know and figuring out how to discover the next thing. Learning to do the reading and show your work. There’s no point in memorizing the Krebs Cycle. #

    Programming–thinking in ways that a computer can help you with. From Excel and Photoshop to C++. #

    Art–expressing yourself with passion and consistency and a point of view. Not because it’s your job, but because you can and because it matters. Appreciating the art that has come before and creating your own, in whatever form that takes. #

    Decision-making–using the rest of the skills above to make better choices. #

    Meta-cognition–thinking about thinking, creating habits with intention. #

    More stuff

    Here’s my question: If you could work for someone who had these skills, developed over the course of a decade or more of public school, would you want to? What about working next to them, or having them work for you? Or dating them? Or living next door or voting for them? #

    If this is what we need and what we value, why aren’t we teaching it? #

  • I’ve started reading “The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club” by Christopher de Hamel. #

    And it’s a gorgeous, gorgeous book. #

    As is fitting for a book about gorgeous old books. #

  • I know little of Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). #

    But Ratzinger is the name of a villain. And Ratzinger has the face of a villain. #

  • The Left app shows you how long you have left to live. #

    At 33-years-old I still feel like I have plenty of time left. #

    But visually seeing how much time I have left makes me feel quite the opposite. Life is short. #

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    Donec consequat imperdiet pulvinar. Sed pretium a velit sit amet fringilla. Suspendisse tellus erat, elementum id auctor vitae, aliquet vel lorem. Duis tempus nunc eget felis bibendum, nec mollis justo efficitur. Mauris sit amet diam tincidunt, mattis mi eget, aliquam ipsum. Proin ligula nisl, iaculis eleifend lorem eu, lobortis gravida purus. Aliquam sed libero mauris. Donec at egestas erat, aliquam ultricies justo. #

  • Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque malesuada diam vitae imperdiet sollicitudin. Pellentesque sollicitudin lobortis enim suscipit interdum. Donec non mattis neque. Integer egestas dictum enim at ornare. Nam a lobortis nisl, nec tempor lectus. Aenean vulputate mauris eros, id dignissim libero tempor nec. Aenean sed ex et elit tempor feugiat. Ut porttitor risus vel sodales gravida. Praesent ac nunc eu felis sagittis tempor. Mauris condimentum felis in euismod tempus. Nullam sit amet vehicula leo. #

    Phasellus sed laoreet nunc. Duis mollis tincidunt gravida. Cras molestie dolor quis rhoncus sollicitudin. Nunc volutpat, leo id gravida maximus, felis diam condimentum turpis, non lobortis ligula mi non orci. Nam tempus aliquam magna, id tempor turpis laoreet eget. Nunc non lacus risus. Quisque et hendrerit orci, eget consequat diam. Cras quis sapien in odio rutrum placerat. Sed eu lectus id enim feugiat blandit id ac massa. Cras condimentum odio id mattis sollicitudin. Cras dignissim consectetur mattis. #

    In eu felis libero. Ut volutpat lacinia eleifend. In pulvinar ipsum ipsum, nec ornare ligula vehicula sed. Sed sagittis eleifend ornare. Nunc vel dui a augue bibendum bibendum. Nunc non ipsum mauris. Suspendisse potenti. Quisque scelerisque elit fringilla lobortis pellentesque. #

    Vestibulum iaculis eros quis risus fringilla, malesuada lobortis sapien cursus. Etiam luctus in diam ac vestibulum. Mauris sodales commodo lacus, at pretium diam sagittis sit amet. Mauris maximus purus nisi. In vitae nunc tortor. Nulla ac est posuere, elementum orci non, mattis nunc. Nam eget tellus sapien. Cras ut lorem mauris. Proin non ornare lorem, at dictum lectus. In eleifend egestas leo ac ornare. #

    Donec consequat imperdiet pulvinar. Sed pretium a velit sit amet fringilla. Suspendisse tellus erat, elementum id auctor vitae, aliquet vel lorem. Duis tempus nunc eget felis bibendum, nec mollis justo efficitur. Mauris sit amet diam tincidunt, mattis mi eget, aliquam ipsum. Proin ligula nisl, iaculis eleifend lorem eu, lobortis gravida purus. Aliquam sed libero mauris. Donec at egestas erat, aliquam ultricies justo. #

  • This is an example page. It’s different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: #

    Hi there! I’m a bike messenger by day, aspiring actor by night, and this is my website. I live in Los Angeles, have a great dog named Jack, and I like piña coladas. (And gettin’ caught in the rain.) #

    …or something like this: #

    The XYZ Doohickey Company was founded in 1971, and has been providing quality doohickeys to the public ever since. Located in Gotham City, XYZ employs over 2,000 people and does all kinds of awesome things for the Gotham community. #

    As a new WordPress user, you should go to your dashboard to delete this page and create new pages for your content. Have fun! #

  • This is my second post. #