Matt Huxley is in his 24th year in public education. He taught for 10 years at the middle and high school levels and has spent the last 14 years in administration as an Assistant Principal at Berkeley High School, a Principal at Mill Valley Middle School, and now as Executive Director at The Academy of Alameda. While the work is not always easy, Matt feels blessed to be an educator and to have the opportunity to work with really great people in an effort to provide a world class education to students. He feels as passionate now at he did 24 years ago as a new teacher.
What you’ll learn about in this episode:
- Matt’s educational background and philosophy
- The challenge today’s teens have balancing their lives, discerning the information they’re inundated with, and maintaining social dynamics
- How to teach teens communication skills (this doesn’t happen by throwing them together at random)
- Making the effort to use technology in classrooms the right way
- “What’s the source?”: teaching students to appreciate bias and conduct research in a world where there is so much inaccurate information
- The pros and cons of parents being more involved in their kids’ education than ever before
- What your kids need from you — and what they don’t
- Why intellectual success without emotional success isn’t success at all
- What Matt’s dream curriculum would look like
- Recommended resources for parents and teens
- Why it’s so important to help teens build advocacy skills
- Leading a happy life vs a meaningful life
Resources:
- Paul Tough – www.paultough.com: “Helping Children Succeed”
- Carol Dweck – www.mindsetonline.com: “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”