Milpitas Unified stands as proof that public "non-charter" schools have the full capacity to innovate.   There are charter schools who innovate and those who don't...just like any other system.  We see a lot of good things happening in certain charter school systems and cheer them on!  However, some systems with "no excuses" cultures may have a hard time pivoting to personalized learning.

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Our students and staff will need to be prepared for this future that is already here.  We are in the midst of a transportation revolution (+automated self-driving cars) similar to the transformation of farming during the industrial revolution.
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"The imminent need for basic income in recognition of our machine-driven future

Late last year, I took a road trip with my partner from our home in New Orleans, Louisiana to Orlando, Florida and as we drove by town after town, we got to talking about the potential effects self-driving vehicle technology would have not only on truckers themselves, but on all the local economies dependent on trucker salaries. Once one starts wondering about this kind of one-two punch to America’s gut, one sees the prospects aren’t pretty."

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What's the future for Mobile Devices in the Classroom?  Below is a great infographic from Project Tomorrow.  
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"Mobile devices are more prevalent in K–12 classrooms than ever.

A new survey on mobile learning from Project Tomorrow shows that today's schools are relying increasingly on students having experience with devices like smartphones and tablets to engage in modern curriculum."

Read more from EdTech Magazine

Wonderful infographic if you're planning a trip by air.
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FiveThirtyEight analyzed 6 million flights to figure out which airports, airlines and routes are most likely to get you there on time and which ones will leave you waiting.

Find your fastest route @ FiveThirtyEight

Although Google is awesome to provide unlimited Google Drive space for all students & staff, for those with regular Google Drive, these tips will be helpful.


Need more space in your Gmail inbox? Time to clear out Google Drive.

Milpitas Unified embarked on our journey to build our new elementary school and with our student, staff, parent, and community input, we will see the realization of the question: "If you could build any school, what would you build?"
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"When I got the call 18 months ago from Achievement First to help design a “next-generation” school model, it was a school designer’s dream. Achievement First has been running great schools serving low-income kids in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island for 15 years. They embodied the profile of the “successful incumbent”: well-established schools which rarely want to take big innovation risks. And yet, a place like Achievement First has built such incredible wisdom and capacity for running great schools, what might it mean to combine that wisdom with a fresh approach to doing school? And so, we began our journey to design and build the “Greenfield” model. Imagine an open, green field with nothing on it; if you could build any school what you build?"

Read more on edSurge

"It’s not clear who dreads the Sex Talk more, parents or children. Parents know that it’s important to impart their values and arm kids with knowledge, but they don’t know how to approach the subject or how much to say.

Although they know it’s irrational, parents want to think that their kids will wait until their wedding nights to have sex, or at least until they are 30. (The truth is that 7 out of 10 Americans become sexually active before the age of 19.) All children would like to believe that they are theproduct of immaculate conception. They are queasy about the very notion of their parents ever having sex, and the last thing they want todo is talk to them about it.

My husband and I recently decided that it was time to have The Talk with our four middle-school aged children, three pubescent girls and a boy who has not quite..."

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Check out the technology at Wolfram's Image identification project.  You can drag an image and then it tells you what the image is.  

"Banks are a riddle wrapped up in an enigma. We all kind of know that they do stuff with money we don’t understand, while the last crisis left a feeling of deep mistrust and confusion. We try to shed a bit of light onto the banking system. Why were banks invented, why did they cause the last crisis and are there alternatives?" 
read more @ Kurz Gesagt