JosieHolford I just tried to take a look at Central Hudson’s Storm Central page and in particular the Outage Map. But it seems our utility company is down and out right now. I was hoping to see all the triangles gone indicating that now everyone is fully powered up. Last week was certainly a challenge for … Read more
The November Educational Leadership is devoted to the topic of grading. It includes an article by Alfie Kohn an expanded version of which you can read here: The Case Against Grades. I’ve given grades. For years I worried about how to get a system right, tried to focus students and their parents on the learning … Read more
Probably the only two responses to constant change are: A. Ignore it (shrink back, retrench, resist, go off the grid, become irrelevant, turn inwards, stay put, get run over, and so on) or B. Keep on keeping on with the learning life. Clearly Option A can take you only so far. But what happens if … Read more
It’s no secret – I like to carry my camera around school and take photographs. I am endlessly fascinated by kids and what they are up to and how they go about learning and the choices they make. I’ve now got thousands of photographs of life at Poughkeepsie Day School going back five years. And … Read more
Bloxes – they’re everywhere. All over the Chapman Room and now migrating to the lobby and Kenyon. What’s a blox? It’s a corrugated cardboard cube. It arrives in six flat pieces. When folded into a grown-up lego-like building block it’s a fascination. It’s a portmanteau word. Web + Log = Blog Breakfast + Lunch = … Read more
As always, lots of good stuff in the latest edition of Independent School, the quarterly magazine from NAIS. And those who hold rather outdated notions of independent schools as universal staunch defenders of tradition and the home of the status quo might be surprised by the theme: Evolution or Revolution: the Pace of Change in … Read more
The future is based on impromptu innovation, inspiration and connections – that’s a paraphrase from Seth Godin’s blog today and I urge you to read it: The forever recession (and the coming revolution). And when you have ask this question: If Seth Godin is even close to right: What kind of schools, classrooms, programs – … Read more
If you’ve been to the webpage, read your email, looked at Facebook or been on campus you will know that the FFR (Fall Festival Reimagined) wing of the PA is actively recruiting older students and parents to be Play Agents for the big event on Saturday, November 19th. Readers of this blog will know that … Read more
For adults like me who work in schools September means being confronted with a world of change. There are new faces of course, and names to learn. There are new courses, fresh paint on the walls and sometimes new structures and renovations to get used to. And the familiar is unfamiliar too. Children have grown … Read more
Do Happier Students Work Harder? When PDS high school students took the HSSSE (High School Survey of Student engagement) the results were astonishing. They outperformed their peers in other schools across the spectrum. Our students reported high levels of involvement, feeling safe and supported, deep engagement in their work and feeling positive about their school … Read more
We have a new lobby in one of our buildings – the Elizabeth C. Gilkeson Center – and as you can see from these two pictures it’s quite stunning. This is the first place most visitors see and it’s where almost everyone passes through at least once a day and usually more often. It’s where … Read more
That tweet from Gary Stager reminded me of this scene: Blotting your copybook used to be more than a figure of speech. It was, for some, a frightening everyday reality of life in school. This scene fromThe 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups, 1959), written and directed by Francois Truffaut, resonates with me. Antoine Doinel’s … Read more
There are lots of reasons not to like Facebook and I respect all those many people for whom it is just not their cup of tea. But there is one thing that Facebook is really good for and for which, as yet at least, there is no better alternative. And that’s doing a little institutional … Read more
What size should classes be? Anyone who has a definitive answer probably has probably bubbled in the answers to all life’s big questions. NAIS president Pat Bassett weighed in with good remarks – including the observation that what makes the real difference in terms of quality education and student outcomes is a combination of great … Read more
