Let’s begin with the “why should you care” part of the question, shall we?
 
Though I do not believe in silver bullets, I do believe that the emergence of the micro school model is the most important macro trend in education since 1893 when our “modern” school system was designed.
 
Now that I have your attention, allow me to share a few thoughts on what a micro school actually is…
 
Last month I had the pleasure of addressing this very question on a panel at SXSWedu with Matt Candler of 4.0 Schools and Elliot Sanchez of Unlearn Education. Both have thought, written, and (most importantly) done a lot in this realm, and I strongly encourage you to check out their work.
 
So first the obvious: yes, it’s true… micro schools are indeed small. But how small and why? We agreed on our panel that no bigger than 150 was about the right number, and that a lot of it has to do with Dunbar’s number. For those unfamiliar, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar in the 1990s suggested that 150 is the cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships — relationships in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person.
 
Let’s be clear: this idea is as radical as it is old. Many of us are asking how schools today can be more personalized — more human. Less institutional. Less one-size-fits-all. One answer is to simply look in the rearview mirror! After all, before we set off in the late 19th century to build a school system for the industrialized age, the one room schoolhouse was a small (dare I say micro), relationship-driven community of learners.
 
And while we’re at it, let’s be equally clear about another radically, old idea: that the learning relationships that matter most in a micro school model done right are those between the students. A smaller, relationship-driven school enables all humans (regardless of age) to be more human with one another — and to learn more from one another.
 
Does this diminish the role of the teacher? Per my last blogpost, I’m all about the stunning colleague! However, this is another rear view mirror moment, as it takes us back to the two driving principals of a Thomas Jefferson education — that learning ultimately comes down to 1) the student putting in the work to educate themselves and 2) the teacher getting the student’s attention long enough and deeply enough for that student to get started and keep going. In fact, I would argue that the “sage on a stage” model where an adult with all the answers stands in front of the classroom to share said answers and discipline said class is responsible for diminishing the role of the teacher. Instead, the real stunning colleague is the “guide on the side” who asks great questions and builds agency in learners — who builds their desire and capacity to learn independently.
 
Lastly, a micro school offers significant operational advantages. My friend, Beth Heaton Seling, put it well years ago: “New school design is anti-lean startup. You spend 18 months designing an untested, un-iterated school model and then — bang — you open a school that will be around for 100 years.” When 70 percent of the cost of most schooling models are tied up in people and buildings, it’s no wonder that for so many of the schools that say “it’s all about the students” — it just simply isn’t.
 
At Blyth-Templeton Academy, we’re very proud to have embraced the micro school model and the level of learning, personalization, and community that comes with such a structure. Our focus on each and every one of our students is unencumbered and I know that if you have the opportunity to talk to our students and parents, you’ll find that this type of environment is having a profound impact on learning.
 
That said, if you’re in and around D.C. this month, why not come pay us a visit and see for yourself at one of our upcoming events?!
 
Not in D.C.? No problem! Here are some of my other favorite micro school models that may be closer to you:

• Acton Academy
• KoSchool
• Long-View Micro School
• Tiny Schools
• Wildflower Schools

 
Thanks for reading — and for caring!
 
Temp

​As our kids head back to school, I figured it was time for me to go back to blog! After all, it has been a while since my last post and I tend to do my best learning when I take the time to reflect and share.
 
Inspiration struck last week during a fantastic trip to Toronto to spend a day with our phenomenal Blyth partners in Blyth-Templeton Academy (not quite “Where’s Waldo” but bonus points if you can find me):

​This picture encapsulates one of the key takeaways of one of my favorite Harvard Business Review articles, penned a couple years ago by Patty McCord, former Chief Talent Officer of Netflix. The piece focuses on a PowerPoint deck that explains how the company shaped its culture and motivated performance — and has apparently been viewed more than five million times.
 
Though challenging, if forced to choose a favorite of the 124 slides, I’m going with slide 20 with the headline:  Great Workplace is Stunning Colleagues.  Or, in Patty’s words from the HBR article:
 
“The best thing you can do for employees — a perk better than foosball or free sushi — is hire only “A” players to work alongside them. Excellent colleagues trump everything else.”
 
I can honestly say that my greatest joy in building Blyth-Templeton Academy is working with my excellent colleagues. And with appreciation for, yet deference to all my ed-head friends who are cuckoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs about "disrupting" K-12 education, I believe in my heart that the killer app in 21st century learning is the same as the killer app of 19th century learning: the stunning colleague.
 
It’s hard to believe that eight years have passed since Clay Christensen, Curtis Johnson and Michael Horn penned Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Education Will Change the Way the World Learns. Equally hard to believe is that most overlook the fundamental concept that disruption is usually fueled by non-consumption. In other words, most disruptive innovations begin with addressing a portion of the market that cannot consume a good or service absent said innovation [eg. many people in the 1950s couldn’t buy radios until Sony made them affordable and accessible (more on this example here)].
 
But who are the non-consumers in K-12 education? Whether though traditional schooling or homeschooling, the resounding majority of kids are consuming education.
 
This is precisely why we at Blyth-Templeton Academy like to ask a different question: who are the non-consumers of educating? And we see a huge opportunity to target those currently not consuming teaching!
 
After all, for many potential stunning colleagues, teaching necessitates a full-time commitment and a relative pay cut. However, Blyth-Templeton’s block teaching approach (a focus on two academic subjects each 10 week term versus taking seven classes each day for the entire year) enables us to not only hire stunning full-time teachers, but equally stunning part-time teachers as well (eg. the stay at home parent or PhD candidate for whom teaching full-time for an entire year is untenable).
 
So my final question for you today shouldn’t be a surprise: Are you a stunning non-consumer of educating?
 
If you are, perhaps you should join us?! Perhaps you should teach full-time or part-time with us in Washington D.C.? Perhaps you should apply to become the Head of School for Blyth-Templeton New York City (slated to launch in the fall of 2017)? Perhaps you should refer someone who should?!
 
Needless to say, I can’t wait to hear from you.
 
Stay stunning,
 
Temp

​
​Last week I spent a day in my native Chicago and had a phenomenal lunch with Victor Saad, founder of Experience Institute, along with several of the organization’s team members and alumni. As the name suggests, they are essentially challenging young adults to design their own education through experiences around the world.
 
But like so many things, you need to know the story behind it — in fact, I urge you to take two and a half minutes right now to get to know Victor’s incredible story:

I hope this finds you rested and well in the wake of Thanksgiving, and prior to a phenomenal remainder of the holiday season. Mindful of the time of year, I thought I’d get out ahead of the rapidly approaching New Year’s resolutions gauntlet.
 
First, by way of reminder:
 
res·o·lu·tion
/,rezəˈlo͞oSH(ə)n/
 
noun
 
1. a firm decision to do or not to do something.
"she kept her resolution not to see Anne any more"
synonyms: intention, resolve, decision, intent, aim, plan
 
2. the action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter.
“a satisfactory resolution of the problem”
synonyms: solution to, answer to, end to, ending to, settlement of, conclusion to
 
Second, two simple but powerful questions to fuel your New Year's resolution:

1. What do you want to do?
2. What is your definition of done?

 
While you're thinking of your answers, let me give credit where credit is due...
 
Seth Weinberger is a friend, former boss and mentor who recently put Hackstudio in Evanston, IL on my radar. Hackstudio is a place where kids come together with their supportive peers for two hours every week to learn how to succeed by being who they are. It’s built around a program where kids define their own projects from scratch, work to get them done and learn who they are by confronting the obstacles they encounter along the way.
 
I had the pleasure of visiting Hackstudio last week and comparing notes with the co-founders, Mike Meiners and Randy Blaugh. Upon reflection, I’m not too proud to admit that they are doing WonderLab better than WonderLab has been doing WonderLab!
 
Why do I say that? The short answer is that they've been getting better traction. The longer answer is that we've talked to a lot of past, present and potential WonderLab Families since my July blogpost in the hopes of developing a more scalable, sustainable model. Many of the ideas that emerged (peer teams instead of 1:1 Mentor Guide sessions, a quarterly commitment vs. monthly memberships, more open space, clearer messaging and marketing) are pillars of the Hackstudio model.

In fact, the importance of better marketing brings us back to our friend Seth Weinberger…
 
It was nearly two years ago to this day that we were about to launch WonderLab and I was getting Seth’s feedback. After he took it all in he wisely concluded:
 
“Temp, I don’t know whether WonderLab is going to succeed.  I hope it does, but it’s always difficult to start a new product or service that people don’t know they need yet.  This will be won or lost on good marketing.”
 
A big part of the beauty of Hackstudio’s programmatic approach is in its simplicity, and in turn, its clear and compelling messaging. It’s about figuring out what you want to do, defining done, and then getting to done. It provides “a structured, supportive environment that builds one of life’s most important skills: the ability to achieve one’s goals” — something that a rapidly growing number of people know they need now more than ever in an increasingly complex and dynamic world. 
 
So my New Year’s resolution is to incorporate this powerful simplicity into WonderLab’s model. Our definition of done is to one day launch a new and improved, scalable and sustainable WonderLab. Our supportive peers are not only our new friends at Hackstudio, but also old friends here in Austin at the numberlab, The Spark, Acton Academy, Khabele + Strong Incubator, and other like-minded organizations. Needless to say, we'll keep you posted!
 
So what do you want to do in 2016 -- and what is your definition of done?
 
As for supportive peers, you know where to find us!

Temp

Considering that this post marks the official transition from the WonderLab blog to the Templeton Learning blog, I think it’s only fitting to begin by answering the question that many of you are likely asking yourselves:
 
What the H-E double hockey sticks is Templeton Learning again?!
 
Simply put, and per our new website, Templeton Learning is the umbrella organization that oversees WonderLab and our Blyth-Templeton Academy joint venture.
 
But those that know me well—and/or have been reading this blog for the nearly two years that I’ve been writing it—know that simple questions and answers are not my forte.
 
Thus, I’d like to propose a more complex question: Why is Templeton Learning?
 
Why is Templeton Learning? Because we believe that there is no more important work than building high quality, highly accessible K-12 education models for 21st century learners—and we believe that doing so will take many decades of sustained effort.
 
Why? To wrestle with big questions like these:

1. What could/should “school” be in the 21st century?
2. What if young people spent more time wondering “what if”?

 
Why? To dream new answers to these big questions; to build sustainable solutions fueled by these answers; to share and scale these solutions; and ultimately, to refine and repeat them throughout the U.S. and eventually the world.
 
It goes without saying that we cannot do this alone. That is why I couldn’t be more optimistic about this moment in learning, nor grateful for the many like-minded initiatives such as:

• The Acton’s Children’s Business Fair: The largest entrepreneurship event for kids in North America (I hope to see all Austin-based readers there today).
• XQ: The Superschool Project: A national movement to reimagine high school.
• Think It Up: An opportunity for middle and high school students to develop student-powered, teacher-led, crowdfunded learning projects.

 
Undoubtedly, it will take you. Which is why I couldn’t be more grateful for your time, your interest and your ideas that I hope you will share at [email protected].
 
Sincerely yours (and a very Happy Halloween),
 
Temp