Breakfast Club Blog
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is a curated space where bloggers from around the world contribute content on a continual basis about a variety of topics relevant to in and out-of-school time. The BOOST Breakfast Club blog is at the heart of an ongoing dialogue where expanded learning and education professionals share their personal thoughts and stories from the in and out-of-school time field. They also tell us what they ate for breakfast!
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!
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Some Things Don’t Change: Rethinking Adult Learning
When it comes to how kids and adults learn, there are similar dynamics that are very important to acknowledge and foster. I find at times, that folks get really focused on noting the differences across our various developmental stages/ages. Even though it’s important to understand these differences, it sometimes limits if/how we create learning environments that are engaging and experiential for adults. Okay, sure, we can sit through hours of a presenter talking at us and still learn and t...Read More
An Open Letter to Pandemic Educators
For educators in a pandemic, our greatest priority is not academic progress, but social and emotional well-being. You have likely spent the last year under intense pressure trying to do anything you can to make a difference. Have your efforts closed the achievement gap? Should they be expected to? No, of course not. In everything you do, you have shown kids that they belong, that someone cares for them, that they are worth all your effort, and that you want them to be safe. That is the primary m...Read More
Your wait time from this point is…
I feel like if 2020 were a ride at Disneyland, it would be Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. There have been hairpin turns, bumps, jolts, and long wait lines. But now, as we move towards the new year, it looks like we can hop off and jump on a new ride. A ride that’s a bit brighter, a ride that has just as long of a line, and may involve a little prick of our skin – not in Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, but a COVID-19 vaccine. The news has been full of reports regarding the trials, approvals, and shipping ...Read More
Bringing at-home STEM success into focus
STEM has left the building For a long time, advocates of STEM education have worked to bring STEM learning closer to students’ lives outside of school. This year, though, COVID has made STEM learning a part of students’ lives outside of school in ways nobody ever imagined or wanted. The pandemic has forcibly ejected STEM from the traditional in-building school environment and strewn it about in a great blurry mess spread out variably and amorphously among the home, Zoom sessions, mask-, distance...Read More
On the Frontlines of Pandemic Education
While many schools cannot provide in-person classes, afterschool programs are delivering in-person enrichment on school campuses – and all is not quiet on the education front. The coronavirus pandemic continues to have devastating effects across the world and has become a divisive political issue in the United States. This virus has laid bare our society’s injustices, including inequity in public education. Distance learning has potential, and I hope we figure it out. In the meantime, stud...Read More
Using Mindfulness to Transform Self and Students
My love affair with mindfulness began innocently enough. I was working as a primary care provider in an internal medicine office at the time. I was a newly graduated PA and quickly became surprised by how many patients would come in to the office over and over again for the same problems. So many people were continuing to suffer despite getting all the best medical care that western medicine had to offer. What was missing? I was determined to find out. At the time, I had not even done yoga, much...Read More
Power of the Break – Reflections on the pandemic
Last winter I flew across the country to attend a health equity training with colleagues and, as I sometimes do when I travel, I carried a stone in my pocket that symbolizes for me balance, regulation, and interconnection – a reminder of seeking to join my head and heart space. The stone fit perfectly in the palm of my hand and felt smooth and solid there. After two full days of intense learning, reflecting, storytelling, and connecting, I debriefed and discussed with colleagues over dinne...Read More
Brokering Youth Interests, Opportunities, And Relationships
Learning happens in both formal settings like school, and informal spaces such as museums, libraries, afterschool clubs, and online affinity spaces. At museums and libraries, youth can engage in following passions on a wide range of interest-driven topics, from makerspaces to retro-videogaming. In afterschool clubs, youth may learn 3D printing, computer coding, digital photography, or debate skills. In online affinity spaces, youth can explore other interests not always available locally. Online...Read More
Character Building with Esports Programs
In 2017, more people watched the League of Legends Championship than Game 7 of the World Series and the final game of the NBA Finals that year. This statistic was shared by ESPN, who—for the first time this past September—featured esports player, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins on the cover of its ESPN The Magazine. But what exactly is esports? Is it just kids just shooting at each other in online video games? Well, it can be. But esports can also be strategy card games, like Hearthstone, which is set in ...Read More
Designing Innovation for Equity: What’s Taking So Long?
Editor’s Note: This blog was originally posted on May 07, 2018 on the TGR Foundation’s blog site. We are reposting with the author’s permission. — Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion at the ASU+GSV Summit, representing TGR Foundation and the work we do. Speaking to a packed room, our session, Designing Innovation for Equity, set out to broadly explore equity issues in relationship to the Innovation Economy-focused redesign of education sy...Read More
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