I recently published my first article on Broke Ass Stuart. This blog entry is mostly stuff that didn’t make it on the final version of the article. I still wanted to share it, though. While you have to give up some of your original content when you write on other platforms, I can put whatever I want on a personal blog like this one.
It’s been almost 19 years since School of Rock released, but we still haven’t learned its most important lesson: school should teach to students create and empower them to express themselves. After re-watching this movie recently, I saw a parallel in my own career: after realizing I could use coding to create, understand, and share ideas, I became a programmer.
I saw Megan Correa—stage name Lil MC—at a concert. After the show, she mentioned that she devoted a substantial portion of her career to music education. The article I linked above is about her work and activism.
I’ve previously written about the best ways to teach and learn. Most people teach by offering an abstract view supplemented with examples. I think the best way to teach is demonstrate a need for the tool/concept/model and explain how what you’re teaching is valuable because you’re solving a problem. Only people who really know their stuff can teach this way. A great example of this is Milo Beckman’s Math Without Numbers, or YouTuber 3Blue1Brown.
I found this method very effective when learning data science and statistics at Berkeley. Because understanding isn’t linear, but teaching usually has to be, it’s most effective to have students take on projects and help fill in understanding gaps as they go. This also helps build intuition, something Malcolm Gladwell underscores in Outliers. It can be said that Intuition separates the men from the boys. He didn’t say it, but I’m sure he would agree.
Many of us adults are motivated to learn second languages or musical instruments because we realize how skill acquisition and mastery can help meet our goals. We should be showing kids that education in subjects like writing, math, and health sciences are instrumental in following our dreams.
School of Rock taught us that students learn best when they feel empowered to create and share something they believe in. While most of us who watched the movie forgot these lessons after returning to class or work, some educators haven’t. While writing my article, I realized that the intersection between STEM and the arts can be thought of as giving students the tools to express themselves. Companies like Apple and Tesla are artistic visions brought to life by science and engineering.
Education as creation breaks down barriers and stereotypes by showing students that they have a voice—and it deserves to be heard.
This Week’s Top 3:
- Chicha Morada Sour at Limòn 🌽 – 21 day purple corn, citrus fruits, & spice-infused pisco quebranta, fresh citrus, housemade syrup, egg whites & a dash of angostura bitters.
- LOUIZA 👩🏼🎤 – so nice I saw her twice. Great sounds from another planet.
- Luckyduck bicycle cafe 🚴🏾♀️ – cute spot on the edge of Chinatown. I have yet to try their coffee, but they have an excellent kombucha on tap and selection of bike-related paraphernalia.