Looking back to the days of my Master’s program at the University of Central Florida, one of the first questions we were asked was, Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Without a doubt, I said, “Running my own school. We need to make significant changes, and the politicians are getting in the way.” Little did I know I might just actually do that.

Fast-forward to 2024. iBuild Academy is embarking on a private school journey. We are looking into the first STEM-focused private school in our area. My dream statement, 20 years in the making, might just come true. Based on the last 8 years of developing highly engaging content, networking with business members, and developing community, many pieces are in place. There are still many more pieces to add, like a building, but we are on our way.

I have learned so much about the learning process. The key element is FUN! Our kids have fun every day. We play hard, laugh at our mistakes, and grow with each other. Kids want choice, ownership, and a voice in their learning. Each kid is unique; there is no one-size-fits-all. We cannot continue to expect all kids to advance at the same rate. iBuild Academy will be a model for the future where learning is social.

Change is good, everyone needs a refresh. For quite some time I have been thinking about the next big step for iBuild Academy. Am I content to finish my working career, or is there something else for me to do as my dream, my focus, is still to reinvent education? I have been on this path since I began my master’s program over 20 years ago.

I love working at Lamar University as a visiting professor in the Applied Digital Learning Master’s program. Hearing all of the great things going on across the country and beyond is inspiring. But there is still a lot to do when we think of our current workforce situation and the skills they lack. Our system of education is broken, stuck in a model that no longer works. We have taken away the very thinking teachers are good at… the ability to teach children to read, write, and do basic math.

Week after week, course after course, I hear of the many struggles our classroom teachers have. I listen to teachers training to be administrators and their struggles of using data to create content for the kids, but never about changing how we teach. But nowhere do I hear teachers having the ability to do what they do, teach the children. Everything is scripted for them. They are told what day they should be teaching what concept… EVEN IF THE KIDS AREN”‘ READY. The product of this struggle is kids who can’t read, do math, or do any type of problem-solving. The workforce cannot find quality workers. We need to reinvent education. The system we currently have is broken.

But this is complex. Our education system keeps adding bandaids to the problem. Our political system dictates how the money will be spent. They tell educators to fix the gun problems, the security problems, the behavior problems, the list goes on and on. But we never address the learning problem. We just don’t let the teachers teach anything to mastery. We just keep pushing the kids on.

It’s time for change.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of creating a podcast with Dr. Dwayne Harapnuik. Not only was it fun, but I was able to relive some wonderful memories of transforming education. Getting students engaged in learning is part of reinventing education. When students are passionate and have choice in learning something they will find out all they can become as proficient as possible. Meeting students where they are at and moving them forward is a key to success.

Here is the link to our podcast, Power of Creating Podcasts. Enjoy.

The kids have learned a tremendous amount of information they’ve learned how to communicate digitally they’ve learned more about their computers or iPads then they would have while attending school they’ve learned leadership skills and problem-solving skills so what’s wrong why is everyone saying our kids have not learned anything and they’re going to fall way behind when they before they start school next year.

My concern is that the skills they have learned like problem-solving, creative thinking, and communication are going to go by the wayside because those skills are not on a standardized test. When we look at the whole child we can see learning took place, we can hear learning took place. But where we can’t see learning took place is on the standardized test. My fear when the kids return to school in Fall of 2021 is going backward. What will education look like? Are we going to disregard all the different kinds of learning that took place and go back to teaching as we did in the 1950s? Or are we going to embrace the changes that did take place and transform education into a creative, problem-solving think tank? This is one of the many questions that keep spinning around in my head about the future of education. Thank you for listening, I need to get an Advil.

I think the bigger problem is HOW we went to online learning. If you take a high school teacher and place her in a kindergarten classroom with the expectation to carry on as normal or vice versa the same thing would happen – confused and overwhelmed teachers.
But if the experts could offer advice about time management and types of content to deliver the confusion and overwhelmed feeling would diminish. Listen to the experts and reduce the stress you are creating. Start creating activities that are project-based not worksheet based. This is not a physical classroom setting.
In the long run, blended learning has a good chance of continuing on when this time period ends. Having all students exposed to a virtual platform and digital means of communication is very important. And yes it starts in kindergarten with something like Seesaw. I think we are going to learn a lot and change the world of education.
Thanks for being like-minded educators who can peek into the future of learning, teaching, and sharing.

Today marks the fifth day of Home Learning. I don’t want to call it homeschooling or distance learning because it’s really not. Parents are forced to teach or to fill the role of the teacher so that’s not really homeschooling because it’s not a choice. Parents are trying to provide a digital connection for distance learning so that their children can do their school work online. But that’s not really distance learning, otherwise, this would have been set up prior to starting.  

However, what I’m seeing is that the kids are taking control. We have an opportunity before us to let the kids guide the learning, let the kids choose what they’re passionate about and make a plan for their own learning. What does that look like? How can we contribute to that? 

As an adult, I can offer suggestions on ways to find information, ways to implement the use of the information, but what I can’t do is create their passion. I can’t create their journey to learning. 

As much as I embrace this opportunity to affect change in education it’s going to take more than me.  I want to hear from the kids in the trenches what they like, what they don’t like, what the roadblocks, are how did they move through the roadblocks. I want to see the kids create content that others can use, that others can learn from, that shows what they’re passionate about because I feel the kids are going to help solve the pandemic that’s going on right now in education.

Power is the ability to effect change… great comment I heard on one of the morning shows today. I was eating breakfast and listening to the TV, something I very rarely get to do. When I heard this statement I immediately began to think about the power we have before us. I have been teaching online now for about 15 years. I love it, but the k-12 learning environment has been slow to change. But in the next few months I think we are going to learn a lot about online learning for k12.

Today was a bit rocky. A lot of confusion and, as expected, S…L…O…W content delivery. We learned one thing already, many kids want to connect at a distance but maybe the current infrastructure is not where it should be. We also learned that even though many of the teachers were apprehensive about Monday morning many of them were trying to participate. In some cases they tried too hard. A word of advice to all of the new “online” teachers set office hours to accommodate all of the students. Morning. afternoon, and evening hours will be important. Also build time in for yourself. After the first few days, you will find your groove. Asking students to meet with you online can work, but it will not work for all. Be sure to record the conversation so those who could not make it can at least listen to it.

I am looking forward to how will will empower our future generation. I think we are going to learn so much in the next few weeks.

Today is the day to reinvent education. The high stakes test is canceled. You have just been given a free pass to teach children. But you must do it in a virtual setting!?
Today is the day you get to think about how to change content delivery. One size does not fit all. Today is the day to create personal learning plans. You have an advantage, you have been with your students for 2/3’s of the school year.
Today is the day to allow the students choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning. Today is the day to reinvent education.
Ask a big question, collaborate with other subject-matter teachers, provide choice with the final assessment of understanding. Today is the day to reinvent education.
Take away the schedule, create due dates. Be flexible, remove the low level “googling” questions, ask for a demonstration of learning – Write a digital book, create a video game, make a movie, record an audio response. We have the tools, we have unchartered territory. Some things will work, others will fail miserably. Welcome to the real world where on the job training is a process. Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to let the kids take the lead. Everyone learns from everyone. Today is the day to reinvent education.
Educators know how to reinvent education, now is your chance to show the world what can be done. Today is the day we reinvent education!

Stand strong, we can do it!

IBuild Academy, Inc. is making a difference in Orange City, Fl. We are exposing kids to STEM and developing confidence within. Thanks to our community support. We were recently named the 2019 Non-Profit Business of the Year by the West Volusia Chamber of Commerce. We are also a finalist for the FETC STEM Excellence Award to be announced next week. I am so proud of these accomplishments.