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Robby Berman

I'm a father, writer, and singer/songwriter (see label for actual order). I get it: Time is precious, every life is precious, this little blue marble is precious. We all want the same things, really. But, um, how do we do that? Let's see if the Internet knows…

If you'd like to join me on the expedition, you can find me on Facebook and Twitter.

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His students were struggling, so he 'flipped' his classroom. Then everything changed.

True

After 12 years as principal of Clintondale High School, Greg Green had a bad feeling: He knew his school was failing its students.

Especially the at-risk ones. Only 63% of the kids at Clintondale went on to college, and 35% didn't even make it though high school. It was rated as one of the worst schools in Michigan.

He and his staff had tried everything they could with the school's limited resources. Nothing worked.

But he had an out-of-the-box idea.

Green is also a coach. To get the most out of the time he had with his players, he'd been making them videos to watch at home so they could see what they were doing wrong and how they could improve.

All images via NationSwell/YouTube.

At practice, he found that after they'd watched the videos, they'd already processed what was going on and made the necessary corrections.

What if academic classes operated the same way, with kids prepping in advance by watching videos online at home or in the school library, and then doing their work in school, during the day, with teachers on hand to assist?

Could that actually work?

Here's what a high school day is like these days.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average high school day is 6.7 hours long. And the average kid has 3.5 hours of homework per night, according to Education Week.

That's a 10-hour day — every day.

Oh yeah, there's also extracurricular activities like sports, music lessons, and so on.

Kids have to process and internalize what they've been taught during the day at night, after they've already put in what would be a full workday for adults. And they have to work out everything by themselves.

So Clintondale decided to try flipping a classroom.

They started with one teacher teaching a flipped class to struggling kids and the same teacher teaching the same material in a traditional way to average students. The idea was to see if the students having problems would be helped at all by the switch.

And...

The kids who were selected for this program actually outperformed the other class!

By 2011, Clintondale had flipped all of its classes, the first U.S. school to do so.

Clintondale's failure rate dropped from 35% to 10%. College enrollment went up from 63% to 80% in two years!

Maybe the best thing, though, is how the kids feel.

"Once I came over here, it was completely different. I absolutely loved that I could get the teacher's help in the classroom. I honestly went from a D, F — those were my basic grades — to almost all A's right now."
— Gisselle De La Cruz Diaz

Clintondale's success has caught the attention of schools all over the country, with 48% of teachers flipping a classroom by 2012, and 78% by 2014.

Sometimes, to get exceptional results, you've just gotta take exceptional action.

You can watch the story of Clintondale's incredible transformation here.

Heroes

Let's dig in to some truly eyebrow-raising theories about aliens.

If there are so many planets, where the heck is everyone?

A video from Kurzgesagt digs into some truly eyebrow-raising questions about aliens. It starts with what physicists Enrico Fermi and Michael H. Hart got to wondering about. It's called the Fermi paradox, and it goes like this:

If...

There are 100 billion galaxies just in the observable universe
Which means there are 100 to 1,000 billion stars
Which means there are probably trillions of trillions of livable planets, so life could be, like, everywhere
And lots of these planets are older than Earth, so some of the theoretically more-developed folks/critters that might be on those planets could/should have figured out space travel by now

Then...

Where are they already?

Well, far far far far away, if they exist out in the larger universe.

The universe is expanding, so it would take us billions of years in the speediest spaceship to get to anybody outside of our galactic neighborhood.

All images by Kurzgesagt.

But if we think locally, it actually is possible.

In the Milky Way alone, there are likely to be about 4 billion habitable places to live.

And if just 0.1% of them actually have any life, that would be 4 million places somebody or something could be living. (The video incorrectly says "1 million." Hey, anyone can make a mistake.)

So the heavens should be teeming with spaceships.

So, um, where's the party? It may be due to those pesky things the video calls “filters."

For instance, maybe life requires a more particular set of conditions than we realize. Certainly, the universe hasn't always been very welcoming.

Maybe we're actually unique, or we could even be the first life anywhere.

Maybe some filters just make it really hard to keep living things alive. (Not to point any fingers here.)

It's also possible that an ancient advanced life-form has been watching us all along.

It could also be that we haven't seen anyone yet because that advanced life-form zaps away any civilization that advances to a certain point to preserve the galactic peace. Just saying.

But if we are alone, wow. That makes what we have even more important.

If we screw up this planet beyond saving, we could be eliminating the only life in the entire universe. Anywhere. Well, that's a big responsibility. After all, this universe is too beautiful not to be experienced by someone.

The video is tons of fun and full of big, weird ideas. Enjoy.

It's this thing they think they're supposed to be caring about.

There's a lot on a tween's mind.

All the drama of a teenager, but still in bed every night with their favorite stuffed bunny. And just when they think they know where they fit in the world as children — that world is ending.

The first question is who are they gonna decide to be?

The social order among young people has never been as simple as grown-ups tend to think, but now it's getting intense. Who's popular and who's not seems like it can be a big deal. Or is it?

The Atlantic sat a handful of tweens down and asked them, "What does it mean to be popular?"

As you might imagine, they had a bunch of different ideas. To some, it's just the name given to a certain clique of people.

So it's about where you sit at lunch as much as anything else?

Of course, being popular is a good thing, right?

Some tweens think it's about how you dress.

Social media's still a big "maybe," though it might be a factor. They're not too sure.

Whatever. One thing they know has value is a real friend.

Images via The Atlantic.

It's one of the most confusing times of life, so it's no surprise that these almost-teens — who are just now mastering the art of being children — have stuff to figure out. If these kids are typical, they're a thoughtful bunch. And there's another thing they're probably all coming to realize. They're embarking on one hell of a ride — being a teenager.

How do you think they're doing?

Heroes

In this charming short story, a hummingbird explains why we have to at least try.

What if we were all hummingbirds?

Environmental activist Wangari Maathai understands that we're constantly being bombarded by problems we face, and it's easy to become overwhelmed. She has a story about a hummingbird that may help.

A raging fire is burning in the jungle.

All images by "Dirt! The Movie."

It's such an overwhelming disaster that all of the animals are watching the conflagration in shock.

A hummingbird says, “I'm going to do something about the fire."

It flies to the nearest stream and takes a drop of water.

It races back to the fire, where it drops the water onto the flames. Back and forth it goes, over and over, while the larger animals — like the elephant whose trunk could deliver so much more water — stand watching.

Eventually they ask the hummingbird, “What do you think you can do? You're too little!"

Without pausing, the hummingbird answers:

The story has a simple point.

"I may feel insignificant, but I certainly don't want to be like the animals watching the planet goes down the drain. I will be a hummingbird. I will do the best I can." — Wangari Maathai

The hummingbird's inspiring story:

From Your Site Articles

The tap of an app, and your new, sweet puppy is flown right to your door by drone. Wait, what?

There really shouldn't be an app for that. And there isn't. It's making a point.

What happens when you buy a dog online?

Many people buy adorable puppies of specific breeds from online retailers, but how does your new bundle of puppy joy get to your door? The Humane Society produced this parody commercial for a fake dog-delivery app called Same Day Pups. It explores a way a lot of folks think it happens — but with drones!

You get your mobile device, open the Same Day Pups app, and find the dog you want delivered to you.

A few taps later, you've got a new pet on the way to your home. Before you know it, the fictional breeders at Same Day Pups have launched your doglet into the air.

A small drone gently lifts the puppy up into the sky for the same-day trip to your home.

The skies are full of happy puppies.

You can even track the progress of your new family member within the app. What fun.

The drone lands, and the puppy's home.

The video ends with info on how you can order a dog of your own from SameDayPups.com.

(You should go to their site. Really.)

This is a screenshot from SameDay Pups, showing a description of their "services" and variety of breeds for "sale."

But there's one other thing... none of this is real.

Hover over the photos on the Same Day Pups site to see the sad reality. (This is just a picture of the site.)

What is real? By buying puppies online, you could be supporting a puppy mill.

The puppies delivered in this video are safe, happy, healthy, and even have a bird's eye view of the world as the family eagerly awaits their arrival. But when you buy a puppy from a store, odds are very good (99% good, according to The Humane Society) that it was bred by a puppy mill, a terrible place to be. Your dog's purchase price encourages this nasty industry to continue.

There are lots of dog-loving private breeders who treat their canines well, but the fact remains that there's just no reason to breed a dog for sale that trumps the needs of so many dogs dying for homes.

When you try to buy a puppy on Same Day Pups, the website reminds you that by buying sight unseen online, you might be supporting puppy mills.

This app may not be real, but you don't have to put down your mobile device. Just use it to find a shelter nearby and make someone happy.

There are countless dogs, young and old, stuck in shelters who'd love to be part of someone's family. If only they had the chance.

And now, a word from the good folks at Same Day Pups.

Heroes

Time ticks so slowly on a reef, we'd miss out on all the fun without time-lapse video.

It's easy to forget how our actions affect so many living things. And it's hard to imagine these particular living things are even real.

We operate on a different scale of space and time than animals under the sea.

If we dipped way down beneath the waves, we might see starfish and corals like these, but because we're so big and because we move so fast, we'd miss the real story.

Using magnification and time-lapse photography, filmmaker Sandro Bocci unmasks the otherworldly beauty and strangeness of tiny aquatic lives.

When we see them move, they do some things that look familiar.

Nom, nom.

And they do other things most of us can only sort-of figure out.

We're just starting to face the sheer scale of our impact on the earth.

It's kinda shocking. Big weather changes, big ocean-level changes, fracking earthquakes. There are dozens, hundreds of things to worry about.

And it affects these small creatures, too.

They're swept along with millions, billions, arguably trillions of other life-forms we don't even consider, all caught up in our great wake. As this video reveals, starfish and corals aren't just things. They're living things. With lives. And, though they may never know it, we're stewards of their tiny worlds, too.

Enjoy this peek into their lives:

A stirring video parody that shows why anyone would ever want to become a teacher.

More than a little like going to war. And just as important.

As four people suit up and get ready to head out, it's obvious they're on a mission.

This video from TakePart is a lot like one of those pulse-pounding military recruiting commercials. Y'know, the kind that call people to an exciting life of danger, difficulty, and in the end, sweet victory. Hmmm, that does kinda sound like teaching.

The music swells. Anticipation builds.

The four begin the day with a few moments to reflect and time for steeling themselves in the face of the daunting task ahead.

They're ready.

A waving stars and stripes shows us they're doing this for the entire nation.

They each travel in their own way: by skateboard, by train, by car, by motorcycle.

At last, they arrive at their destination.

It's a large building. The four people climb the steps and go inside.

It's time to lock arms in solidarity and look knowingly into each others' eyes. Then they separate, each one to his or her part of the operation. Everyone has a vital role to play.

A bell rings.

They stride forward together like the everyday warriors they are.

They're teachers.

It's such a difficult and important job, shaping the minds and ambitions of the next generation. It's also an underpaid job, given the training and dedication it requires. The average public school teacher's salary is $56,643 in the U.S. — not to mention how frequently teachers wind up buying classroom supplies on their own dime in order to do the job the way they know it must be done.

Why do they bother?

They know it's the chance to make a real difference.

Robby Berman

After 12 years as principal of Clintondale High School, Greg Green had a bad feeling: He knew his school was failing its students.

But he had an out-of-the-box idea.

Could that actually work?

Here's what a high school day is like these days.

That's a 10-hour day — every day.

So Clintondale decided to try flipping a classroom.

The kids who were selected for this program actually outperformed the other class!

By 2011, Clintondale had flipped all of its classes, the first U.S. school to do so.

Maybe the best thing, though, is how the kids feel.

Clintondale's success has caught the attention of schools all over the country, with 48% of teachers flipping a classroom by 2012, and 78% by 2014.

You can watch the story of Clintondale's incredible transformation here.

If there are so many planets, where the heck is everyone?

If there are so many planets, where the heck is everyone?

Well, far far far far away, if they exist out in the larger universe.

But if we think locally, it actually is possible.

So, um, where's the party? It may be due to those pesky things the video calls “filters."

It's also possible that an ancient advanced life-form has been watching us all along.

But if we are alone, wow. That makes what we have even more important.

The video is tons of fun and full of big, weird ideas. Enjoy.

It's this thing they think they're supposed to be caring about.

There's a lot on a tween's mind.

The Atlantic sat a handful of tweens down and asked them, "What does it mean to be popular?"

What if we were all hummingbirds?

A raging fire is burning in the jungle.

A hummingbird says, “I'm going to do something about the fire."

Eventually they ask the hummingbird, “What do you think you can do? You're too little!"

The hummingbird's inspiring story:

There really shouldn't be an app for that. And there isn't. It's making a point.

What happens when you buy a dog online?

You get your mobile device, open the Same Day Pups app, and find the dog you want delivered to you.

A small drone gently lifts the puppy up into the sky for the same-day trip to your home.

The skies are full of happy puppies.

You can even track the progress of your new family member within the app. What fun.

The drone lands, and the puppy's home.

The video ends with info on how you can order a dog of your own from SameDayPups.com.

But there's one other thing... none of this is real.

What is real? By buying puppies online, you could be supporting a puppy mill.

This app may not be real, but you don't have to put down your mobile device. Just use it to find a shelter nearby and make someone happy.

It's easy to forget how our actions affect so many living things. And it's hard to imagine these particular living things are even real.

We operate on a different scale of space and time than animals under the sea.

When we see them move, they do some things that look familiar.

And they do other things most of us can only sort-of figure out.

We're just starting to face the sheer scale of our impact on the earth.

And it affects these small creatures, too.

Enjoy this peek into their lives:

More than a little like going to war. And just as important.

As four people suit up and get ready to head out, it's obvious they're on a mission.

Watch.