JosieHolford 
This time along the Appalachian Trail by the side of the Housatonic River, north out of Kent. The snow was mostly gone, although – as is the way with micro-climates – there were patches glazed with ice and slick with melting snow. But mostly it was soggy and brown with leaves. The going was easy … Read more
Suddenly there’s Poughkeepsie what a hard time the Hudson River has had trying to get to the sea it seemed easy enough to rise out of Tear of the Cloud and tumble and jumps draining a swamp here and and other smaller longings for the wide except for its spelling ocean sixty miles away is … Read more
First the music and the record stores closed. And then the books – Posman’s on Broadway, Ivy’s and too many others across Manhattan. And then it was the international news and magazine shop – Global Ink – on the corner of 112th street where it was possible to browse obscure journals, pick up yesterday’s Guardian … Read more
An article by Alfie Kohn in The Nation is a timely reminder of how language is so easily co-opted to mean quite the reverse of the usual understanding. The polluters bring us “Clear Skies” and the armaments industry brings us the B36 bomber – “The Peacemaker”. And now those touted as school “reformers” are heralded … Read more
Lots of talk in recent years of the new essential skills to survive in the 21st century economy. Tony Wagner’s book The Global Achievement Gap- why even our best schools don’t teach the survival skills our children need and what we can do about it has received lots of attention. See this summary to review … Read more
“What do I need to learn this algebra and geometry and math stuff for?” Connecting learning to the real world – that’s the tag line of The Futures Channel – a great educational resource. On this page they provide a wonderful set of answers to that age old classroom math question: “What do I need to … Read more
Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name! – John Proctor … Read more
“None of us is as smart as all of us.” — Japanese proverb There’s brainpower in numbers. But you don’t get there by brainstorming. Read more at NYTimes Unboxed
“It was awesome and totally rocked!” – that was the verdict of one member of the 3rd/4th grade chorus who sang at the Market Street branch of TDBanknorth in Poughkeepsie last Saturday. They were there for the official tree-lighting. They sang and there was hot chocolate, candy canes and a visit from Santa on a … Read more
In his talk yesterday, Bruce Judson made reference to the first 100 days of the Roosevelt administration. As now, there was a deep financial crisis. As now, there was no one clear path to follow. But doing nothing was not an option. Bruce reminded us that they tried things, experimenting to see what worked. There’s … Read more
“Understanding the Economic Crisis in Plain English” – that was the title of the presentation for grades 7-12 today. In his lively and most informative presentation PDS parent and trustee Bruce Judson explained the origins of the current financial crisis. His talk set out the dominoes of the events that led the way. You can … Read more
What do London’s Royal Albert Hall, The Football Association, and the New Zealand Ministry of Education have in common? All three have called on the services of learning and creativity consultant Guy Claxton. He is the author of What’s The Point Of School? Rediscovering The Heart of Education and a foremost thinker on creativity, learning, … Read more
On the way home tonight I heard Robert Reich on NPR’s Marketplace. The topic was Human Capital. The one sentence summary: Failure to invest in human capital (i.e..education) is shortsighted and counter-productive. Basic idea: Our future competitiveness and standard of living depend on our collective skills, capacity to communicate and solve problems, and innovate. They … Read more
What’s your favorite word and is it in this dictionary yet? If not, then consider making a personal contribution. Meanwhile – take a look, see and listen to the contributions so far in Wordia And don’t worry – there are lots more words to go. The Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains full … Read more
