An interesting resource for you: Journalist and author Kathleen Cushman, a one-time Teacher Book Club featured guest, is producing a series of videos for the nonprofit What Kids Can Do called Just Listen: Students Talk About Learning. The idea is to bring greater exposure to kids’ own ideas about why school matters to them and what they hope to get out of their education. That theme is very much in line with Cushman’s written work and research, in which she emphasizes that understanding kids’ perspectives is an essential part of sound and engaged instruction.
The first installment in the series features teens talking about how schools can help students become adults. Seems like a question a lot of high school teachers might be asking themselves everyday. Check it out.