Libby Nelson of Vox released the video below that helps us understand the new way Common Core does math.  As our students venture into new ways of learning in Milpitas Unified, students are taught the "traditional" way of learning math in addition to approaches that will help them understand how and why math problems work called "number sense".

"A growing number of American schools are ditching the 19th century—when it comes to the school calendar that is.  Twice as many schools today have a longer school day or year than just two years ago and, for the first, more of them are traditional public schools than charter schools, according to a joint report released Thursday by the Boston-based National Center on Time and Learning (NCTL) and the Denver-based Education Commission of the States.

Of the 2,009 schools that had expanded learning time last year, 1,208—or 61 percent—were regular public schools. That's almost a total flip from 2012, when there were 1,079 schools with additional time and 56 percent of them were charters.

The number of students attending charter and non-charter extended learning time schools has also doubled during that period, from 520,000 to nearly 1.2 million. 

Jennifer Davis, president of NCTL, said the shift indicates that charter schools are fulfilling their mission as centers of innovation in education whose successes can be models for traditional public schools.

"Every high-performing charter school in America has more time," Davis told Education Week. "That's the only way they have been able to show that kind of educational gains for their students."

An interactive database developed by NCTL shows that schools in 44 states and the District of Columbia have added at least 30 minutes to their school day or 10 days to their academic year.  

Some have gone well beyond that. So far, 41 schools in five states increased the school year by..."

Read more @ Education Week
Related article | Longer School Year: Will It Help Or Hurt U.S. Students?

Did you know that truck/delivery driving jobs are the most numerous in California and throughout the United States?

Here is a visualization of the most common jobs in every state.  

This is an amazing footage of Swiss Air Force F-5 jet in 360° view in YouTube.  More and more videos in this format will be shared on YouTube so be on the lookout.  Also, please make sure that your browser is compatible with the 360° YouTube viewer (Chrome usually works great).

Michael Horn provides his insights on innovation from his new book, Blended.
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"When it comes to innovation in education, there is a tension.

Some educators express concern about innovating when children are involved. Innovation implies experimentation and uncertainty. Aren’t “disruptive innovation” or even “breakthrough sustaining innovations” too risky to pursue in schools given that the well-being of children is at stake?

Other educators come at it from the opposite perspective. Believing that current schools aren’t good enough for students, they think avoiding innovation in schools is akin to malpractice.

In our new book, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, Heather Staker and I devote a chapter to sketching out a way to innovate that takes into account the truth in both positions: the need for caution in unpredictable innovations, and the need for innovation to improve how educators serve students."

Read more on edSurge

"At the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, Local Motors 3D printed a plastic car called the Strati.  Local Motors printed the car's chassis and body all in one piece, and also printed the fenders separately. The first phase of the process took just 44 hours. 

Then the non-printed components (engine, seats, steering wheel, etc.) were..."

Read more at Business Insider

"Teachers who transform lives understand not only how to teach curriculum, but also how children develop into capable, caring, and engaged adults. They see beyond quantitative measurements of success to the core abilities that help students live healthy, productive lives.

Famous educator Maria Montessori wisely remarked, "The greatest sign of success for a teacher. . . is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'"

The world has changed dramatically since the early 1900s when Montessori made her mark in education. Yet the same goal remains: scaffolding children toward self-sufficiency. How does this occur today, particularly when test results often seem more important than the development of a child ready to tackle career-life challenges?"

Read more on Edutopia