If the school lockdown during the pandemic taught me anything, it’s this.

1. There’s more than one way to teach a topic, and
2. the days of public schools are probably numbered.

Lessons Learned

The students who had the best results with online learning during the shutdown were not unsurprising. They were top 20% of students. They were mostly from two-parent families. They respect authority. I’m not just talking about police, although I’m sure their parents taught them respect for the folks in blue. I’m also talking about topic authorities. And not just my topic (mathematics), but all topics.

In fact, I would go so far as to say the top 20% thrived during school shutdowns.

What’s my channel about?

Right now, I make videos about math examples kinda like Khan Academy. Sal Khan is a hundred times smarter than me, but I can make video scribes as good as the next person about my specialty. And video scribes are much easier to make than teaching live remote. The kids who stayed home after my school reopened for 2020-21 were those who did not like school anyway and thought it was another free pass like the previous school year. There were a few exceptions, because some parents were probably afraid of COVID-19 exposure for their kids.

After the channel grows, I would like to start a podcast.

Attracting the Top 20%

In school, teachers can really only work with the willing. My analysis leads me to believe that a YouTube channel (or online course) would attract the students who did well learning during the pandemic — the top 20%. And I’m not just talking about my school. The 80/20 Rule — also known as the Pareto Principle — implies that the top 20% are responsible for 80% of the school’s success. From academics and athletics to leadership and awards, the best 20% account for (at least) 80% of the successes.

I watched many math YouTubers before I decided to pull the trigger on my idea. Now I watch even more. There is so much that can be learned from others.

I coaching swimming for many years. During my tenure as head coach, I learned that my super power was turning good into great. I could not have trained a non-swimmer to win races. But I had many hard-working athletes with the knack for grabbing water. They set lots of school records and earned lots of post-season hardware.

In a similar vein, I can’t teach Algebra learning support 7th graders how to do the calculus. But I can take students with good number sense to the head of the class in most of my courses.

Stay Tuned

So stay tuned for details. The channel is set up here. It is named Planet Numeracy, same as this website. Other than about 65 videos video uploads, there is not a large library of content yet.

My plan is to add two videos a week focusing on high school math content.

Until next time…

Remember that success is a planned event. Believe in yourself.

Pay attention, do the work, and don’t give up!

And don’t forget to check out my new YouTube channel!

www.youtube.com/@PlanetNumeracy