Kelly Smith on Prenda and a Fire to Be Kindled

Key Points

  • You can let the students set their own goals and they tend to choose goals more aggressively than they otherwise would have been.

  • Microschools are not the only option but, often, they are a great one. 

A Fire to be Kindled

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On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark is joined by Kelly Smith, CEO and Founder of Prenda and author of the great new book A Fire to be Kindled: How a Generation of Empowered Learners Can Lead Meaningful Lives and Move Humanity Forward.

A microschool is just one valid option among others that work for people … and I think it’s going to be huge.

Kelly Smith

Book Background

Can intentional, messy, audacious learning unlock the power to live meaningfully and contribute to the world?

The human capacity for learning has enormous potential, but most of us are stuck with the passive belief that learn- ing is “a thing that happens to you.” Imagine if instead humans made the deliberate choice to learn rather than checking boxes on a syllabus. How can parents, educators, and all of us unleash real learning?

This book offers a fresh approach: the Empowered Learner, helping anyone own their genius and accomplish their goals. A Fire to Be Kindled takes a practical look at the structures surrounding students and explains the concepts helping thousands of children become Empowered Learners at Prenda microschools.

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