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MacKenzie Price

@mackenzieprice • 12,771 subscribers

Co-founder, Alpha School and 2HrLearning Transforming K12 | Improving outcomes with 1:1 AI-driven academics and critical life skills for a future-ready next gen

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Forcing kids to read things they hate just simply doesn’t work. Our reading philosophy at Alpha is simple: kids learn to love reading by reading what they love. Sure, it’s important for kids to be exposed to classic literature. But being forced to read highbrow literature as a young teen is often the very thing that makes kids hate reading in the first place. Many of them never bother picking up a novel again. If the goal is to have students fall in love with reading and become life-long readers, then we should cater the material to their interests. Whether it’s comic-books, books about insects, or a biography on the Kardashians, there has to be a better way. We built our own app called Teach Tales to solve this problem.

Forcing kids to read things they hate just simply doesn’t work. Our reading philosophy at Alpha is simple: kids learn to love reading by reading what they love. Sure, it’s important for kids to be exposed to classic literature. But being forced to read highbrow literature as a young teen is often the very thing that makes kids hate reading in the first place. Many of them never bother picking up a novel again. If the goal is to have students fall in love with reading and become life-long readers, then we should cater the material to their interests. Whether it’s comic-books, books about insects, or a biography on the Kardashians, there has to be a better way. We built our own app called Teach Tales to solve this problem.

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People have this purist notion that kids should just be self-motivated to do well. For about 5% of them, that's true. But what about every other kid? Motivation is 90% of learning. Our guides figure out what motivates each kid and use it to get them to put in the work. Over time that builds a confidence anchor: the one win where a kid did something hard and hit their goal. Confidence in yourself might be the most valuable thing a kid can build. It changes your entire academic path. And yes, sometimes it starts with an Amazon cart.

People have this purist notion that kids should just be self-motivated to do well. For about 5% of them, that's true. But what about every other kid? Motivation is 90% of learning. Our guides figure out what motivates each kid and use it to get them to put in the work. Over time that builds a confidence anchor: the one win where a kid did something hard and hit their goal. Confidence in yourself might be the most valuable thing a kid can build. It changes your entire academic path. And yes, sometimes it starts with an Amazon cart.

MacKenzie Price

65,002 views • 2 months ago

In traditional school, if your kid is ahead, the only move is to skip a grade. Now, they're the youngest in the class. This still doesn't solve the pacing problem or the fact that kids aren't uniformly advanced. A kid can be flying in math and behind in reading at the same time. At Alpha, a fifth grader doing geometry sits right next to a friend who's catching up on fourth-grade math. Same room, same age, no one pulled out, no one held back. They're just each working on what they actually need.

In traditional school, if your kid is ahead, the only move is to skip a grade. Now, they're the youngest in the class. This still doesn't solve the pacing problem or the fact that kids aren't uniformly advanced. A kid can be flying in math and behind in reading at the same time. At Alpha, a fifth grader doing geometry sits right next to a friend who's catching up on fourth-grade math. Same room, same age, no one pulled out, no one held back. They're just each working on what they actually need.

MacKenzie Price

54,399 views • 4 months ago

We do not use a chatbot interface in our schools for academics, and here’s the reason: give a kid a chatbot, and they will cheat with it. As much as we’d love to imagine they’re going to get on ChatGPT and engage in a Socratic discussion, they don’t. They copy the question and paste, “What’s the answer?”

We do not use a chatbot interface in our schools for academics, and here’s the reason: give a kid a chatbot, and they will cheat with it. As much as we’d love to imagine they’re going to get on ChatGPT and engage in a Socratic discussion, they don’t. They copy the question and paste, “What’s the answer?”

MacKenzie Price

36,884 views • 3 months ago

Grade levels shouldn’t be tied to the calendar. At Alpha, students advance to the next grade after completing their check chart, which can happen at any point during the year.

Grade levels shouldn’t be tied to the calendar. At Alpha, students advance to the next grade after completing their check chart, which can happen at any point during the year.

MacKenzie Price

36,278 views • 4 months ago

I think we managed to capture all the controversies in one video, including dodge ball.

I think we managed to capture all the controversies in one video, including dodge ball.

MacKenzie Price

27,732 views • 4 months ago

Alpha Anywhere is expanding. It is now available worldwide, and we will be adding high school starting in the fall.

Alpha Anywhere is expanding. It is now available worldwide, and we will be adding high school starting in the fall.

MacKenzie Price

15,022 views • 3 months ago

Kids at our schools apply for jobs and get paid for them. They can earn interest on what they save or invest it. Ask any adult what they wish they'd learned in school. The answer is almost always the same: how money actually works.

Kids at our schools apply for jobs and get paid for them. They can earn interest on what they save or invest it. Ask any adult what they wish they'd learned in school. The answer is almost always the same: how money actually works.

MacKenzie Price

11,462 views • 2 months ago

Would you learn more about financial literacy from a lecture or running an Airbnb? These 10, 11, and 12-year-olds all worked together to acquire, set up, and rent an Airbnb. DURING SCHOOL. The future of education requires real life skills.

Would you learn more about financial literacy from a lecture or running an Airbnb? These 10, 11, and 12-year-olds all worked together to acquire, set up, and rent an Airbnb. DURING SCHOOL. The future of education requires real life skills.

MacKenzie Price

13,186 views • 1 year ago

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