Wildfire Education

In this episode, Doris speaks with Jay Scheurle, Head of School and Entrepreneurship teacher at Miami Valley School. Jay describes how he modeled a radical new method of teaching and learning for his school by implementing a high school entrepreneurship course. Doris: Hey, Jay. Jay: Hi, Doris. Doris: How are you today? Wait, what is today? Jay: Today is commencement tonight. So, other than this po...

 Can a group of independent schools get colleges to accept a new kind of transcript without grades? In this episode, Scott Looney, Founder of the Mastery Transcript Consortium and Head of Hawken School discusses an initiative to bring important change to the college admissions process. Do School Better: A Podcast for People Who Want to Transform Education - Listen to more episodes here Doris: Hi S...

In this episode Doris speaks with Kesha Conway, Program Director at Ashtabula Leadership County. She describes her course where students gained skills in collaboration and problem solving by working on a real business challenge from their local community in rural, Ohio. Doris : Hey, Kesha.   Boy, you just had a whole pilot. How’d it go? Kesha : All in all it was absolutely fantastic. Doris: Wow. K...

In this episode Doris speaks with Anna Delia. She is the Middle School Asst. Director and Science Teacher at Hawken School, a K12 independent school in Cleveland, Ohio. Anna shares how her middle school science students gain skills and knowledge by creating Biomimcry solutions to real problems. She also shares how her students are developing character and leadership skills by solving problems in t...

In this episode Doris speaks with Dr. Danielle Bomar. She is the Supervisor at Options For Success, a K12 Alternative School Program in the Columbus City School District for students who have been suspended or expelled from their home school. Hear about the entrepreneurship course Danielle and her teachers piloted in this school. Doris: Hey, Danielle. Danielle: Hello. Doris: How are you? How are y...

In this episode, Doris talks to Anne Love of Concordia International School in Shanghai, China. Anne is the High School Academic Innovation Coordinator as well as a teacher of science and social entrepreneurship at her school. They discuss how Anne has changed her social entrepreneurship course using the Korda Method. She shares the shift in her instructional practice, which has changed the way sh...

In this episode, Doris talks to David Peden. David is the Chair of the Entrepreneurship Leadership program at Battle Ground Academy , a K12 independent school near Nashville, TN. They discuss the entrepreneurship education program he has built after attending an Educators Workshop for Entrepreneurial Studies.    Doris : Hi, David. David: How are you? Doris: I’m great. How are you? David: I’m...

In this short intro, Doris and Alison kick off Season 3 of the podcast. They share the plan for this new season, which is called The Firestarters. They also share some news about their new organization, Wildfire Education.   Learn more about the METHOD Discover more about our educator TRAINING

In this episode, we talk about the final look at a semester course and how important the reflection on the entire experience is to the learning of the students. Alison: Here we are Doris. Doris: I know. Alison: We just finished up the final presentations for the semester this past week. Doris: Yeah. Alison: What were your thoughts? Doris: Well I think I’m reminded every time, I was reminded this t...

In this episode, we talk about what happens in this class when students are working on real problems and they’re paralyzed because they don’t know what to do next.  Alison: So, we’re two weeks away from final presentations for student businesses and we just had share outs for an update about where they are. Wow, what a day it was. Doris: Yeah, what a day and actually…so I’m going to start…this is...

In this episode, Doris talks to Terry Chou, a middle school science teacher from a public school in California. Terry attended the first Workshop for Entrepreneurial Studies. in order to learn how to teach innovation and collaboration. Listen to what she has discovered about teaching at the intersection of science, business and technology. Doris: Hey, Terry. Terry: Hi. Doris: So, listen, I am real...

In this episode we’ll talk about these final projects where students create their own businesses and will face huge academic challenges in the process.  Alison: Final projects. Doris: Yeah. Alison: We’re off and running already today. Doris: We sure are. So this is really interesting. So they did their presentations on Tuesday for their last business challenge and now, starting today, they came in...

In this episode, we talk about what students presented today as their solutions to their second business challenge and why the learning has been transformative.  Doris: Okay, so Alison we just…students just presented their solutions to their second business to the CEO. What’d you think today? Alison: I was pretty impressed with where they ended up today. I had my doubts for the past three weeks. D...

In this episode, learn how the feedback we give in this course goes far beyond a letter grade. Doris and Alison discuss how students shift away from extrinsic motivation through self-reflection, as well as giving and receiving feedback. Alison: Hey, Doris. Doris: Hi, Alison. Alison: How are you? Doris: I’m good. How are you today? Alison: Good. Doris: It’s a beautiful day in Cleveland, Ohio. Aliso...

We’re a week and a half in to students’ second business challenge. And at this point in the course, things get really, really complicated. And in this episode, we share a lot of our strategies in helping guide students through a very challenging, creative problem-solving process.  Alison: So students are a week and a half in to their second business challenge working with Endemic Solutions. And th...

In this episode we talk about what is happening in this class when the students come out of their first day of their second business challenge and are faced with a problem that is significantly more sophisticated and complicated and challenging than what they faced in the first part of the class. Doris: Big day, Alison. Alison: Yeah, it was. We went to see Biz 2 today. Doris: Yes, we did. Yes, we...

In this episode we discuss where the students are, given that they just finished their first business challenge and they’re about to undergo a major shift.  Alison: Today, the students gave their final presentation for their first business challenge. Doris: How do you think they’re doing? Alison: It’s interesting. I feel like, at this stage of the course, they still don’t get it. Doris: Of course...

In this episode, Doris discusses her methods of instruction and how to launch students into  the habit of self-guided inquiry through early assignments and activities in the class. Alison: Doris. I feel pretty privileged to have been working by your side for the past year now. Doris: That’s sweet. Do you say that when we’re not on our podcast? Alison: Mmm… Doris: No, you don’t. No. That’s sweet. T...

In this episode, Doris talks to Alison about the first week of this class and the early on exercises that lead to de-schooling. They go in depth into the Business Model Canvas activity describing how it sets the stage for a completely different mindset for academic learning. Alison: Ready. Doris. Doris: Oh my god. Are you tired yet? Alison: I’m exhausted. Doris: Is it time for winter break? Is the...

In this episode, Alison and Doris discuss trying out new tools in the upcoming semester of Hawken’s Entrepreneurial Studies program. Alison talks about the decision to pilot Slack and incorporate the use of LinkedIn for ongoing student portfolios. Doris: Hey, this is an exciting moment. School starts next week. Alison: Yeah. Already. Doris: It’s cool, we’re gonna talk in this podcast about some of...

In this episode, Doris talks with Michael Hudecek of St. Clair Superior Development Corporation. He shares his “overwhelming success” in piloting Korda’s model in one of Cleveland’s most impoverished neighborhoods.  Doris: Okay. Hey, Michael, how are you doing? Michael: I’m doing great. It’s good to see you again, Doris. Doris: It’s great to see you. It’s been such a short time and such a long tim...

In this episode, Alison shares how the Korda Method of teaching and learning deepened her understanding of innovative teaching practices, pushing students towards rigorous and meaningful learning.  Alison: So Tim, we’ve been at this now for about six months, which is wild to think about. But… Tim: This crazy podcasting thing we’re doing. Alison: Yes, indeed. Do you have any updates to share or whe...

In this episode, Doris talks with Renee Bischoff, Director of College Counseling at the Hawken School. Renee shares insights on the impact the entrepreneurship program has had on students, including their personal and academic growth as well as their readiness for college. Renee: Well, I generally get students in my office space sometime in the beginning to the middle of their junior year and typi...

In this episode, Doris and Alison examine the growth of the entrepreneurship education movement and how that has changed both the needs of educators seeking training and Doris’s approach to training them. Alison: So I was curious, now that I’ve been involved in this work for about a year, if we could talk a bit about where you feel entrepreneurship education in the K12 space really is at this poin...

In this episode, Alison and Tim reflect on the 2016 Hawken Educators Workshops in both Cleveland and California. They discuss how the needs of the attendees have changed as Entrepreneurship Education continues to expand and evolve. Tim: So we are fresh off of two workshops here in… What was it now, July of 2016? Alison: Yeah. Tim: And the last two of five that we’ve done. Alison: That’s right. Tim...