JosieHolford 
It’s been a cold winter here in the Hudson Valley. Poughkeepsie records only go back to 1949 but this February was the coldest with a whopping 12.7 degrees below average temperature. And then March came in like the proverbial lion breaking another record with -2 degrees F in the first week. And then there was … Read more
Dropped by the prek-k last week and found them deep in a pattern block exercise (well it actually felt like a game) with the help of their teachers Amy and Judy plus the PDS math guy Stephen Currie. And then – when that was done and dusted – it was time to find a book. … Read more
There’s solid evidence that American students do well when they are encouraged to think for themselves and expected to collaborate with one another. There’s a great Opinion piece by David L. Kirp* in the NY Times today: Make School a Democracy The story begins in a one-room schoolhouse in Armenia, Columbia with a mixed-age (5-13) … Read more
John Maeda is the keynote speaker at #naisac this week and I’m looking forward to hearing him. He just shared this leadership chart and Linked-In article via Twitter and he “hopes it’s useful.” I think it is. And interesting. Interesting because thinking how this applies to business-as-usual (or not) in independent schools will take some … Read more
The NAIS Annual Conference – #naisac15 – is coming right up. This year schools were invited to contribute to an interactive Makerspace where attendees can explore aspects of this new movement in education. Chris Bigenho has been organizing the online NAIS community for the past several years – thank-you Chris @bigenhoc – and this year … Read more
“Once upon a time there was a mindless little girl named Little Red Riding Hood “ So begins Ellen Langer’s introduction to her delightful The Power of Mindful Learning. Long before the word was the trend du jour in education there was Ellen Langer’s Mindfulness (1990) and then The Power of Mindful Learning (1997). Her initial example … Read more
I’m looking forward to the NAIS Annual Conference- #naisac15 – this year – assuming of course that Boston can dig its way out of all the snow. The theme is appealing: “Design the Revolution”. It’s a slogan that manages to evoke the design thinking and maker movements while also embracing the ineluctable truth that the … Read more
In his The Schools our Children Deserve Alfie Kohn has a quick and easy chart for what to look for in the classroom. It includes this chart about the walls. Give it a try next time you are in Gilkeson. In the last couple of weeks I have captured a fraction of the learning as reflected … Read more
This is the Night Mail crossing the border, Bringing the cheque and the postal order, Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, The shop at the corner and the girl next door. Just watch this clip from “Night Mail” – the documentary film from 1936 – and be transported to another time, another place. … Read more
Bombogenesis – that’s the wonderful word that the indispensable (for our region at least) forecasters and watchers at Hudson Valley Weather introduced me to a few years back. It’s a meteorological term meaning rapid or extreme cyclogenesis often characterized by a barometric pressure drop of 24 millibars in a 24 hour period. And cyclogenenis means the … Read more
There’s a useful and on-point critique of the Maker movement in The Atlantic magazine: Why I am not a Maker by Debbie Chachra. And maker devotees and promoters would do well to read it as they out there talking up the maker culture as a panacea to all the ills of education. But – what … Read more
Thanks to Valerie Strauss’s blog in The Washington Post I’ve been alerted to a website devoted to helping grieving students. Among the many useful resources there is this chart that serves as a simple but important guide for talking with grieving children about trauma and loss. … Read more
Parents got talent. Right? So come on out – beat the winter doldrums – and join the fun. Bring your violin. We will ask you to play. Thursday February 5th. Click the pic for more info.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail One of the most resounding rebukes in history. And as you read you can hear the cadence of the voice rising and falling with indignation and righteousness. It’s a long letter. Never before have I written so long a letter. I’m afraid it is much too long to take your … Read more
