How to Use a Journalism Degree to Teach Middle School

In Chapter 9 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, education technology entrepreneur Adam Geller answers "Where Has Your Journalism Work Experience Been Most Useful in Your Education Career?" Geller finds his journalism degree is most useful on a day-to-day basis as a teacher. He finds the daily test of clearly communicating what he knows so his students can absorb the lessons similar to journalist work articulating information so an audience can internalize the information. As a science teacher, journalist training also helps Geller tailor teaching to learning styles to best engage students.

Adam Geller is founder and CEO of Edthena, a video platform enabling online teacher coaching, peer review, and group learning. He is a recent Education Ventures fellow at the Kauffman Foundation and the founder of Teach For Us, a network connecting Teach for America corps members and alumni. He earned a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MA from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis.

Preston Smith on Improving Quality Grade School Choices for Parents

In Chapter 8 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "What Inspires You Most About the Charter School Education Model?" To Smith, improving education quality comes down to creating a market of choices so parents can choose the best school for their child. While Smith notes not all charter schools translate into higher quality choices, he makes a point that charter schools represent a central way to innovation education by creating higher quality school options for parents and their kids.

Preston Smith is co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, the highest performing low-income school system in California. After graduating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith joined Teach for America. After three years teaching 1st Grade, he founded a district school in San Jose and became its principal. Smith was selected as a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute New Schools Fellows. 

Preston Smith on Making an Impact in Your Local Community

In Chapter 9 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "How Does Your Work Allow You to Impact the Community You Love and Make a Difference?" After 14 years living in San Jose, Smith finds purpose and meaning in serving over 5,000 families by providing quality education. He is reminded of his contribution daily, engaging parents and their children around the community at church and around town. He finds inspiration knowing there is an opportunity to expand his local school model from San Jose, California into Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Nashville, Tennessee.

Preston Smith is co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, the highest performing low-income school system in California. After graduating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith joined Teach for America. After three years teaching 1st Grade, he founded a district school in San Jose and became its principal. Smith was selected as a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute New Schools Fellows. 

Preston Smith on Teaching Teachers Common Core Critical Thinking

In Chapter 10 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "What Has Your Work Experience Taught You About How Education Careers are Changing?" Smith shares how teacher training is shifting from outcome-based training built on No Child Left Behind to input-based training of Common Core standards. Inherent to this is a higher focus on critical thinking and problem solving. As a result, teachers need to adapt training to meet expectations of the new standards while also being flexible to embrace new changes in education such as new classroom technology.

Preston Smith is co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, the highest performing low-income school system in California. After graduating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith joined Teach for America. After three years teaching 1st Grade, he founded a district school in San Jose and became its principal. Smith was selected as a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute New Schools Fellows. 

Louise Langheier on What Makes an Aspen Institute Fellowship Valuable

In Chapter 13 of 21 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Louise Langheier answers "How Did Your Aspen Institute Fellowship Contribute to Your Professional Development?" Langheier shares how her time as an Aspen Fellow has given her an immersive learning experience full of critical and reflective learning. The program integrates rigor and humanity into a collaborative experience Langheier finds both unique and rewarding.

Louise Davis Langheier is founder and CEO of Peer Health Exchange, a non-profit that trains college students to teach health education in public high schools. Louise was selected as a member of the 2011 class of Aspen Entrepreneurial Education Fellows, and was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2012. She graduated from Yale University. 

Mark Graham on the Career Benefits of a Liberal Arts Education

In Chapter 7 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, media executive Mark Graham answers "Where Has Your Liberal Arts Education Been Most Valuable in Your Career?"  Studying liberal arts at the University of Michigan exposes Graham to a wide array of subjects. Graham takes this approach in his career, building a broad set of experiences working in marketing and digital media before transitioning into television and editorial publishing jobs. Mark Graham is currently a managing editor at MTV Networks. Previously Graham worked in editing and writing roles at New York Magazine and Gawker Media. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English. 

Simon Sinek on How to Simplify Concepts So You Can Teach Them

In Chapter 3 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "How Have You Learned to Better Distill Complex Concepts Into Teachable Moments?" As someone that did not do well in school, Sinek shares how he has learned to make something repeatable. This, in turn, has helped him to make it understandable and to more clearly explain something when teaching others. Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. Sinek is the author of two books, "Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Come Together and Others Don't" and "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". He is a public speaker, an adjunct professor at Columbia University and a Brandeis University graduate.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen: How have you learned to better distill complex concepts into teachable moments?

Simon Sinek: Oh, that’s an easy answer. I’m an idiot. I’m not smart. I didn’t do well in school. I didn’t do well in college. (chuckles) And so, my push to simplify concepts is so that I can understand them. There’s a lot of things I don’t understand, and so I ask a lot of questions, repeating back what I think I’m hearing, because I don’t understand. And so, the desire to simplify concepts is for my own understanding, and if I can understand it, then I can share it with somebody, because now I have an understanding of it.

And the good news is if you make something simple, then it’s repeatable. Whenever you make something repeatable, then it’s understandable. And the best part about that is, at that point, others can share your thinking without you. So many things that were “taught”, whether from a teacher, or somebody in the industry, or sitting down with your financial adviser or whoever, you can understand that, hopefully, maybe, you think you can for the moment that you’re with them, but then try and go to explain what you just learned in the meeting, and you’re like, “I don’t know. That’s what he said. I don’t know.” Right? And so, my desire is to be able to repeat something, which is why I need to dumb them down. (chuckles) It’s no great secret. (chuckles)

Lauren Serota on Building Skills to Be a Better Teacher

In Chapter 15 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and educator Lauren Serota answers "How Are You Becoming a Better Teacher?" As an instructor at the Austin Center for Design, Serota evolves her teaching style and course design as she gains experience. She brings in anecdotes from her studies and work to give students a foundation until they can gain their own experiences and build their own base. She works with faculty to continuously improve courses based on best practice research. In class, Serota deconstructs complex concepts into simpler pieces that allow students to stay focused and hone understanding of the core concepts.

Lauren Serota works as an associate creative director at frog design. She is also a teacher at the Austin Center for Design (AC4D). Serota earned a bachelor's degree in industrial design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Lauren Serota on Teaching Students Design Thinking

In Chapter 16 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and educator Lauren Serota answers "What Does It Mean to Teach Someone to Think Like a Designer?" Serota notes there is a nature versus nurture element of teaching students design thinking techniques. As a teacher, Serota tries to find student learning styles and adapt her teaching to those who grasp creative and design thinking and those who struggle to grasp them.

Lauren Serota works as an associate creative director at frog design. She is also a teacher at the Austin Center for Design (AC4D). Serota earned a bachelor's degree in industrial design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Lauren Serota on Surprising Teaching Career Benefits

In Chapter 17 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and educator Lauren Serota answers "How Has Teaching Opened New Opportunities in Your Career?" Each graduating student becomes an ambassador not only for the school but also for each faculty member. This creates a feedback loop Serota uses to learn from alumni and build her reputation as a teacher willing to learn and share to new audiences. This opens new opportunities for her such as giving a design talk in Monterrey, Mexico.

Lauren Serota works as an associate creative director at frog design. She is also a teacher at the Austin Center for Design (AC4D). Serota earned a bachelor's degree in industrial design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Michael Margolis on Growing into an Entrepreneurial CEO Job Role

In Chapter 16 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "Are You Feeling That As Your Business Grows and You Add More Employees and You Have Greater Responsibilities to Your Clients You Are Starting to Understand Some of the Management Boundaries That Will Appear Over Time as You Build Capacity?" Margolis understands this at a high level, sharing notes from Union Square Ventures venture capitalist Fred Wilson on keeping money in the bank, articulating vision and executing a strategy to achieve it, and recruiting the right people for the team. As a teacher honing a storytelling philosophy for business, Margolis finds it harder to find balance between developing concepts and leading as a CEO. Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative. He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University.

Doug Jaeger on Improving Teaching by Sharing Knowledge Online

In Chapter 4 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, creative director and brand marketer Doug Jaeger answers "How Are You Becoming a Better Teacher?" Jaeger finds that the Internet continues to make it easier and easier to share your knowledge and create a virtural mentoring environment with online learners and students. He looks for ways to share his thinking and work to get feedback and give away his knowledge to a larger audience outside the classroom. Doug Jaeger is co-founder and creative director at JaegerSloan Inc. where he focuses on brand and experimental marketing for clients such as Squarespace, Samsung and PwC. He is an adjunct professor at New York's School of Visual Arts (SVA) and co-curator of JnrlStr. He graduated from Syracuse University.

Slava Rubin on Ways Childhood Experiences Shape Your Values

In Chapter 1 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Indiegogo CEO Slava Rubin answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental to Shaping Who You Are Today?" Rubin moves from Belarus to the United States very young and learns work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit from his role model parents. After losing his father to cancer, Rubin grows up quickly at home and resulting new school experiences teach him the importance of respecting the differences in other people. Slava Rubin is CEO and co-founder of Indiegogo, the world's largest crowdfunding platform. Indiegogo empowers anyone, anywhere, anytime to raise funds for any idea—creative, cause-related or entrepreneurial. Prior to Indiegogo, Rubin worked as a management consultant. He earned his BSE degree from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What childhood experiences have been most fundamental in shaping who you are today?

Slava Rubin: Yeah, I think what happened when I was a kid is really important in terms of how you grow up. I had great parents, my mom and dad. My mom was a doctor and my dad was an engineer. And they were always very into education, into hard work, and they were entrepreneurs themselves, not in job but the fact that they were willing to take a risk and leave Russia, or Belarus, where we grew up, and right away move when I was 9 months old in ’78 to America. It was cool because I right away got to learn from my parents what it means to work for what you need to accomplish, to not have it handed to you, to really strive to do something better, and I right away had that work ethic and that entrepreneurial spirit, inspired into me.

Then when I was 15, my dad passed away from multiple myeloma, which we’ve talked about before, which had a huge impact, because right away I had to grow up pretty quickly, and with my mom and myself, I had to, I guess, be the two leaders of the household. It’s pretty interesting when I was actually helping to refinance the mortgage when I was 16 years old.  

Those two things really helped me to grow up. Plus just being the only Jew in high school, I think I got to learn about diversity and what it means to how people get treated, so I think that was really helpful in terms of wanting to create a platform for equal opportunity.

Clara Soh on Ways Korean Parents Help You Live the American Dream

In Chapter 1 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, health economist Clara Soh answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?" Soh shares how her Korean parents immigrated to the US to attend graduate school, met while studying and then married and started a family. Born in the US, Soh learns how the American education system offers more freedom of choice than what her parents had in Korea and takes full advantage of the opportunity in studies and career. Clara Soh is a health economist and Senior Director of Policy and Research at a pharmaceutical trade organization in Washington, DC. Previously, Soh held senior roles at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (KPCHR) and Health Policy Research Northwest (HPRN). Soh earned her Masters of Public Administration (MPA) in Policy Analysis and Healthcare Public Finance from the NYU Wagner School and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.

Clara Soh on How to Make Complex Research Easier to Understand

In Chapter 14 of 20 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, health economist Clara Soh answers "How Have You Learned to Translate Complex Research into Easily Digestable Writing?" Soh shares how she has learned to translate what she does at work to the level of communication her audience prefers such as academic or legislative or journalistic. Early career experiences reading extensively while in the Peace Corps give Soh the appreciation for diversity she then hones in her health economist career. Clara Soh is a health economist and Senior Director of Policy and Research at a pharmaceutical trade organization in Washington, DC. Previously, Soh held senior roles at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (KPCHR) and Health Policy Research Northwest (HPRN). Soh earned her Masters of Public Administration (MPA) in Policy Analysis and Healthcare Public Finance from the NYU Wagner School and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.

James McCormick on Learning Work Ethic From Two Inspirational Grandfathers

In Chapter 3 of 21 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, legal search and consulting firm executive James McCormick answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" McCormick learns his work ethic from both of his grandfathers. The first starts a small business making automotive parts and teaches his grandson the benefits of being engaged in your work. The other teaches James the importance of studying and how concentration in schoolwork can lead to positive attention at home. James McCormick is a Partner at Empire Search Partners in New York City. Previously, he practiced law as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney for Proskauer Rose and Jones Day. He earned a JD at Tulane Law School and a BA in History at the University of Michigan. 

Leslie Kerner on How the Aspen Institute Trains Leaders of Tomorrow

In Chapter 16 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, education software company executive Leslie Kerner answers "How Did Your Aspen Institute Fellowship Contribute to Your Professional Development?" Kerner joins a NewSchools Venture Fund-sponsored fellowship leadership development program at the Aspen Institute. There she learns from education entrepreneur peers working across startups, charter schools, school districts and nonprofits. The fellowship meets twice a year and is built off dialogue-based text reading of classic books from Aristotle, Kant, and Plato as well as more modern education industry focused writing.

Leslie Kerner is Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Professional Services group at Amplify, a software and services company innovating K-12 education. She is responsible for building and managing training, professional development and consulting services for schools. Previously, Kerner worked as a management consultant at Deloitte & Touche. Kerner earned an MBA from the Duke University and a BA from Northwestern University.

Jon Kolko on How Student Learning Elevates Student Teaching

In Chapter 14 of 16 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and designer Jon Kolko answers "How Has Your Own College Experience Informed Your Work Innovating Higher Education?" Kolko shares how his student experience at Carnegie Mellon studying industrial design and human computer interaction or HCI has informed his ambition building the Austin Center for Design (AC4D). He embraces the best in class elements of his own education and works with his team to evolve them for modern design student needs. Jon Kolko is VP of Design at MyEdu and the Founder and Director of Austin Center for Design (AC4D). He has authored three books on design and previously has worked in design roles at Austin, Texas venture accelerator Thinktiv and global innovation firm frog design. He was a professor of Interaction and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.