If you work in public education, you've undoubtedly heard people debating the value of "memorizing" (read: quickly learning) content knowledge in school.  Someone -- usually a principal, professional development presenter, or teacher beholden to some pedagogical fad -- will point out that, through the internet, students have access to a wealth of information; so why bother learning facts?  Who needs to know anything when everyone can just search for everything?

What they are missing is that knowledge is an essential ingredient in higher level thinking skills.  If we don't know who, what, where, and when, then we'll struggle to discuss how and why.  If we can't connect the 5 Ws (+ H), evaluation, analysis, and synthesis are impossible.  They are also missing the fact that many real life situations reward the first to be right, so knowing an answer (or quickly generating analysis/synthesis/etc.) without looking anything up does more than just get an A on a test -- it makes you look smart and maybe actually be smart; it can make you more successful than the idiot with a Chrome browser.  This is true for teachers too (check out a recent ReadThinkWriteSpeak article about the need for greater content studies/review during teachers' professional development).  (Intro article continues below.)

Bloom's Taxonomy is one of the most insightful and useful education concepts ever. It is used and reused, relabeled and repackaged, occasionally forgotten but always resurrected. And when people poo-poo knowledge acquisition as prep for a game show or intellectually elitist or old-fashioned or anything else, they are abandoning some of the best research and practices available.  All higher order thinking skills are built on foundation of knowledge, so unless your students are all rare savants, then teaching knowledge is a prerequisite for teaching other "21st century skills." 

I remind students all the time:  If you don't know stuff, you can't think stuff; if you can't think stuff, you can't do much.  

​Please enjoy this short (~16 minute) solo episode.  Leave comments and questions below.  If any listeners/followers disagree about the significance of knowledge, I'm looking for volunteers to discuss and debate this issue.   

ClassCast Podcast Ep.017 features Sam Mull, a Programming & Community Engagement Coordinator with Loudoun County Public Libraries and all-around Renaissance man, talking with host Ryan Tibbens about his love of libraries, his education (including GIS), kayaking, hiking, concerts, woodworking, reading great books, being a good person, and more. This episode is longer than was originally planned because Sam has so many interesting ideas and diverse experiences.  Five shorter highlight clips are available separately, but for those who want to hear it all (as you should), this full episode is for you.
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Support the show (http://paypal.me/TibbensEST)

This quick clip from Ep.017 of the ClassCast Podcast showcases the final 3.5 minutes of the discussion in which Sam Mull, library coordinator and Renaissance Man, offers parting words about the library and life. 

Support the show (http://paypal.me/TibbensEST)
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In this highlight clip from ClassCast Podcast Ep.017, host Ryan Tibbens speaks with Sam Mull, a Programming & Community Engagement Coordinator at Loudoun County Public Library. Sam discusses returning to the library after completing college, how he uses his schooling, learning on the job, and what makes libraries great. This clip has much to offer young adults navigating school and job decisions, taxpayers curious about library services, and -- most of all -- an intriguing look at some of the programs and services that Sam (and the libraries) have to offer. 

In this highlight clip from ClassCast Podcast Episode 017, host Ryan Tibbens talks with Sam Mull, a former student and current Programming & Community Engagement Coordinator for Loudoun County Public Library, about GIS education (see ClassCast #015 w/ Mike Wagner), his college journey, & seeking direction after college (related: ClassCast #013 w/ Ryan Orr, DropDeadPreMed.com). If you enjoy this clip, watch for more highlights plus the full audio throughout the week!

Support the show (http://paypal.me/TibbensEST)

ClassCast Podcast Ep.016 features host Ryan Tibbens discussing the fallacy of learning styles, the problems with ideological and dogmatic thinking in the classroom, the need for variety, and the value of personal relationships. This brief solo episode was prompted by an ongoing discussion of differentiation and individualization as well as a blog post shared by a coworker.  To put it all simply -- There is no one ideology or pedagogy that works when it is the only option; teachers must pick and choose strategies to fit the goals. Also, using extensive stations or immense amounts of choice within a given lesson takes too much time away from relationship building and student support.  Links to the three articles discussed in the episode are available below (out of order because Article #1 is only available in download format). 

Article #2 -- "The Problem with Learning Styles" from Scientific American
Article #3 -- "Why Teacher-Student Relationships Matter" from Education Week

Check out two highlight clips from ClassCast Podcast Episode 015, featuring host Ryan Tibbens and GIS leader, science teacher, curriculum designer, and expert weather forecaster Mike Wagner.

In this highlight from ClassCast Podcast Episode 015, lead GIS teacher and curriculum developer Mike Wagner discusses the implementation and value of geographic information system classes in schools.  Every school should strive to offer GIS classes like Mike suggests because of the kind of inquiry-based, career-skills focused opportunities they provide (not to mention dual enrollment college credits). Check  out this clip to learn more! 
For more information about LCPS GIS, check Twitter (@LCPS_GIS) and the LCPS GIS website (https://www.lcps.org/Page/212324).
For more information about using ArcGIS Online and the manual that Mike Wagner wrote, check http://learn.arcgis.com/en/educators .

In this highlight clip from Ep.015, expert weather forecaster and GIS teacher Mike Wagner discusses the science (and art) of weather forecasting and why good forecasters should be cautious and conservative. Check out Everyday Weather Services on Facebook for the best snow day (and major event) forecasting in Northern Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, and throughout the MidAtlantic region.

ClassCast Podcast Episode 015 features a discussion between Mike Wagner, lead GIS teacher in Loudoun County, VA (as well as science teacher, curriculum developer, and expert weather forecaster), and host Ryan Tibbens. ​

They discuss using geographic information systems (GIS), particularly ArcGIS, in the classroom; Mike's background and current projects as a professional weather forecaster (specializing in snow day predictions); and why a more experience-based, hands-on, and interdisciplinary style school is needed. GIS can work in every class and subject area and is considered a top five career "area of need," so implementing this technology can create valuable job skills in addition to deeper project-based learning.  Two highlight clips, one featuring an introduction to the GIS class in LCPS and one featuring Mike's Everyday Weather Services forecasts on Facebook, are available in a separate ClassCast update. 

For more information about LCPS GIS, check Twitter (@LCPS_GIS) and the LCPS GIS website (https://www.lcps.org/Page/212324).
For more information about using ArcGIS Online and the manual that Mike Wagner wrote, check http://learn.arcgis.com/en/educators . 
For more information about Mike's forecasts, check Everyday Weather Services on Facebook. 
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ClassCast Podcast Episode 014 is our FIRST solo recording, featuring Ryan Tibbens discussing parts of his philosophy on teaching, why to teach, how to focus on skills, and the on-going purpose of this podcast. This was recorded in about 25 minutes with no notes or pre-planning, but there's a lot to think about, both in regard to the purpose of school and to how teachers teach.  If you enjoy this episode, please send us suggestions for future topics/questions at readthinkwritespeak@yahoo.com or via the comments section below. 

 In this highlight clip from Episode 013 of the ClassCast Podcast, teacher and writer Beth Konkoski talks with host Ryan Tibbens about grading, how GPA-mania hurts education, college admissions, how competition for admission to elite universities might be counterproductive, and the relationship between high school grades and future success.

Remember that ALL ClassCast Podcast episodes are available on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, iHEARTradio, and other popular streaming services, including our hosting service and mobile app. 


Corrections/References 

• The Yuval Noah Harari book referenced is actually Homo Deus.  Here's what Harari has to say about grading: "The modern educational system provides numerous other examples of reality bowing down to written records. When measuring the width of my desk, the yardstick I am using matters little. My desk remains the same width regardless of whether I say it is 200 centimetres or 78.74 inches. However, when bureaucracies measure people, the yardsticks they choose make all the difference. When schools began assessing people according to precise marks, the lives of millions of students and teachers changed dramatically. Marks are a relatively new invention. Hunter-gatherers were never marked for their achievements, and even thousands of years after the Agricultural Revolution, few educational establishments used precise marks. A medieval apprentice cobbler did not receive at the end of the year a piece of paper saying he has got an A on shoelaces but a C minus on buckles. An undergraduate in Shakespeare’s 
  day left Oxford with one of only two possible results - with a degree, or without one. Nobody thought of giving one student a final mark of 74 and another student 88."
• Grading, as we think of it, wasn't even conceived of until the late 1700s, didn't begin to take on modern forms and labels until the late 1800s, and didn't come into widespread use until the first half of the 1900s. Check out a history of grading in US Education.
• High school valedictorians (whose unweighted GPAs usually hover at or near 4.0) actually have an average GPA of 3.4-3.6 in college, slightly higher than the 3.2 claimed in this episode. Here is a reference to one study on the subject. 
• Millionaires/CEOs of major businesses tend to be C+/B- students in college. Check it out. 
• Click this link to learn more about (or purchase) Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath.