I haven't seen a great educator video in a while, so I particularly enjoyed this new one from California teacher, blogger, and part-time Googler Dan Meyer. It was given at the TEDxNYED conference in March.
Since the TED video went live, he's already been snapped up from relative obscurity to talk about math education on CNN (airs this Thursday). As he himself acknowledges in a post about reactions to a recent presentation he gave:
Some of the praise was really hyperbolic, predictions about my place in math education that, based on five minutes in front of a projector screen, were flatly unreasonable, and indicative of a certain desperation to point to someone ? anyone ? on the other side of a yawning leadership gap.
Amen about the desperation for more great teacher-leaders. It's great to have former-teacher-leaders like Michelle Rhee doing important work. But it's equally important to have at least a handful of current master teachers contributing to the public discourse. They can simply talk more articulately about how policies affect the classroom and also ensure that curriculum does not remain the ?orphan child? of education policy, as Russ Whitehurst has labeled it. It's not easy for teachers to find the time ? and I've got no idea how Meyer's arrangement works ? but I hope he encourages more current teachers to step into the limelight.
-Mickey Muldoon