Everything George Lakoff says here about the importance of framing in our conversations about Climate Change is just as true about the importance of framing in our conversations about Reforming the US Education System.

We’re wasting our breath unless the ways we speak about using Web 2 tools to support informal and formal education connect with people’s fundamental values. Values like truth-telling and practicality and the importance of following our pioneering spirit.

 Authenticity and freedom of choice aren’t “bleeding edge” values. They’re grounded in the very heart-and-soul of what it means to be an American. Doing what works in ways that were easiest for most people to access was at the heart of the original movement to create public education.

What Lakoff has been writing and speaking about for 30 years needs to be applied now to integrate social media into US “classrooms,” whether they’re in public buildings or private homes.  The American way of life is already a polar bear on a fast-melting iceberg in the sea of globalized economics.  Using Web 2 tools to teach and learn can slow down this meltdown…  It’s time to change our thinking about them from “new” to “necessary.”  They are the life preserver we’re throwing ourselves.  

(cc) Roger Jones

For too long learners have been let down by the way they’ve  been taught math.

In fact, a lack of math proficiency remains one of the biggest single problems shared by learners across the globe, regardless of country.

Sarah Bartram is an online teaching pioneer who is making a difference for hundreds of learners who are fed up and reaching out for help with math - online.

An out-of-the-box thinker, it’s not too surprising that Sarah has chosen to teach online. But it is interesting that her passion and commitment to teaching developed OUTSIDE the expected teachers’college.

Yes, you read that right.

While Sarah is college trained, she is not a “certified” teacher. Instead, she is a woman with a sheer love of mathematics, a person who enjoys helping people understand and solve math problems they find too challenging to solve on their own.

And she’s made it her business to help them!

Learners LOVE working with Sarah because she makes their needs her #1 priority.

It’s easy to see just HOW MUCH they love working with her, skimming through the hundreds of stellar reviews they have left for her on LivePerson.com.

Basing her work on the belief that everyone can learn math, Sarah uses her online teaching business and her face-to-face tutoring practice to make a very decent living doing exactly what she loves most - teaching mathematics.

(cc) Ben Cummings

How simple can you get?

1. Learners ask for and receive the math help they need.
2. Sarah makes a decent living doing what she loves.
3. Things start turning around for learners - Online.

I invite you to listen to Sarah talk about how she’s doing her part to make a dent in a global problem - that really doesn’t have to be a global problem.

…then I suggest you consider how you might start sharing your teaching passions DIRECTLY with global learners - online.

You don’t have to quit teaching to collect on your education!

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