Alex Lipoff

Shark Tanks & Fantasy Football

by Ted Shaffner

We talk a lot about student-centered learning these days, and at times, it's hard to get a handle on precisely what that means. Alex Lipoff spends a great deal of his time working this out and performing a wide variety of experiments to test the concept fully. In his seminar class, he allows students to determine a large portion of the actual curriculum, and finds in the process that he is still able to teach the essential skills for higher order thinking and communicating. In the video below, you can see him talk about three of his experiments, including the Seminar Passion Project, a student feedback exercise based on the television show, Shark Tank, and a Harkness reflection exercise based on Fantasy Football. You will also hear him talk about modeling risk taking, focusing on skills-based learning, and the difficulties and potential messiness of innovation in the classroom.

The creative mind at work is impressive here, but even more important is how thoughtful Mr. Lipoff is about balancing content and skills, and how willing he is to inspire and follow the trail his students want to forge with him. I have been lucky enough to observe his classes and discuss his ideas at length, and I felt others should be able to share in this opportunity. I have learned a great deal from him, and plan to adapt some of these projects into my own lesson plans.