Rebel Educator®

Mark Metry is an author, podcaster, and keynote speaker and has achieved what many of us define as success.  In high school he launched a Minecraft server that  saw over 5 million people log on and brought him financial independence, but he still felt like an outsider.  In college he became depressed, socially isolated and contemplated suicide.  He realized he could either become a statistic or a...

Our guest this episode, high school senior Sasha Keck, shares her favorite memory of school, talks about chairing the Spartan Buddies club, and gives us some ideas on how high school could be made better by requiring fewer classes and allowing students to pursue their passions. Enjoy this conversation with an incredibly insightful student! In this episode, we cover: What’s missing in traditional h...

Our guest this episode, Liv, is a junior in high school.  She shares with us her experience, her biggest influences as teachers, and ideas to make school more equitable. I was impressed by how aware she was of the challenges and discrepancies that exist in high school, even if adults and educators aren't talking about how to fix it - the students see it and are working to make a difference. In thi...

In this episode, we dive deep into what high school is like, and what it could be like (answer: like a banana split) through discussing Deborah Olatunji’s experiences and her book "Unleashing your Innovative Genius: High School Redesigned". Deborah founded the Student Leadership Initiative Program (SLIP), a social venture that helps mentor and support the game-changers of tomorrow. Her desire to l...

Nepris Co-Founder and CEO, Sabari Raja, talks with us about creating authenticity in project-based learning. Nepris is a web-based connections platform that allows teachers to connect their classrooms to industry professionals as a way to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math in the real world. We discuss how to make professionals available in rural districts and areas, hel...

Devin Vodicka has spent the past 20 years working towards high quality student outcomes. He has earned multiple prestigious awards in the education field, including 2015 California Superintendent of the Year by both ASCA and Pepperdine University. He is also a nine-time White House honoree in recognition for his achievements and to partner with the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Educatio...

As Co-Founder and CEO of EdSurge, a leading and award-winning news and resource site on EdTech entrepreneurship, no one has been in a better position to witness the evolution of online and blended learning!  Betsy Corcoran has written for Forbes, the Washington Post, Scientific American, and has also appeared on Forbes, Fox, CNBC, and NBC. Join us as we discuss what this moment in time means for t...

Jill Ackers-Clayton is the Senior Learning Designer at Fielding International and facilitator and coach with TeachThought, focusing on educational programming design. In 2017, Jill founded a Spanish Immersion project-learning based school and has authored a book based on the experience, which focuses on project-based learning in early childhood education. She is also co-author of the book Developi...

Michael B. Horn, is an author and thought leader in the discussion of the future of education. He works with a portfolio of organizations to improve the life of each and every student. Michael is the co-founder of and distinguished fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for disruptive learning and author of the award-winning book ‘Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Wa...

Loni Bergqvist is the Founder and CEO of Imagine If, an agency based in Denmark, that focuses on supporting schools and helping all students thrive with engaging, personalized and authentic project-based learning. Loni focuses on helping educators do better by doing less through making students the co-creators of their education. She believes that schools need to be flexible and agile communities...

Join me for this incredible interview with Trevor Soponis PhD, Founder and Chief Learning Officer at The Sustainable Learning Projects. Dr. Soponis believes that projects should connect to the community and create good in the world while creating a platform for real world learning and skill building by students.    We talk about seaweed and shellfish farms, sustainable forestry, how to engage your...

In this episode, CEO of InventXR Education Foundation, Freedom Cheteni and I discuss how to acknowledge injustice, stop other-izing, start healing and the need for a compassion revolution. Freedom is the editor-in-chief of Superintendents Journal, a globally renowned thought leader, and an inventor of future-ready transformational models and applications for individuals and organizations at a glob...

Dave Potter is a force in the education system in California. His work focuses on supporting underserved communities through all forms of cross-collaboration that make progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Join us as we discuss how to enhance student agency and choice, including practical ideas for educators and parents, why overcoming a lack of trust and creating a safe and e...

Our guest this week, Esther Wojcicki, journalist, educator, and author of the book ‘How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons to Help Your Child Become Self-Driven, Respectful, and Resilient’, shares her thoughts on making education more effective for the 21st century, how we can use the current crisis to revolutionize education,  why it’s important to trust and respect them, and how to help...

Welcome to the first episode of the Rebel Educator podcast! Where is education going? According to our guest, Dr. Barry Sheckley, that depends a great deal on where we want it to go. The current crisis has given us an impetus to change the education system and create one in which students become engaged learners, rather than passive students who are simply repeating information back to their teach...