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
A high school parent writes: I think we knew this already (“study shows teens’ use of digital media show that America’s youth are developing important social and technical skills online – often in ways adults do not understand or value”) but it’s nice (especially as a parent) to be reassured. The study in question can … Read more
I’ve posted about leadersheep before and now I have heard from an Icelandic shepherd with more information. “Flannelberry” – who started a blog Flannelberry Farm (Small-scale farming, self sufficiency and all things considered…) – writes: I am a shepherd with an Icelandic flock and came across your blog while googling “leadersheep”. There are indeed leadersheep – … Read more
A parent sent me a link to this clip from Ulrike Reinhard‘s blog and specifically her story “Intrinsic motivation will play a major role…” Thank you for introducing me to the ideas and work of Chief of Confusion: Richard Seely Brown. Brown is a visiting scholar at USC and the independent co-chairman of the … Read more
First and foremost, I look for someone who asks good questions…We can teach them the technical stuff, but we can’t teach them how to ask good questions—how to think. Clay Parker, president of the Chemical Management Division of BOC Edwards. What’s your answer to the question: What skills do we need to be teaching in … Read more
I had the pleasure today of hearing Shawn Achor speak on the topic of happiness and the science of positive psychology and school success. Just as there is learned helplessness there can also be learned optimism. It’s all to do with mirror neurons and other good brain stuff. Happiness can be a choice – a … Read more
Thank you for bringing John Palfrey to the school last night. He was fabulous, and he spoke directly to issues facing my family and our children – PDS parent. It was election eve for the parents and community discussion. And an election day workshop for PDS teachers and colleagues from other New York independent schools. … Read more
Some colleges are paying members of the freshman class to retake the SAT’s. Administrators claimed that they were merely giving admitted students a chance to burnish their records and win so-called merit scholarships. But it seems more likely that Baylor’s marketing team was trying to drive up the school’s test scores — and move it … Read more
Paul Hoppe I was very taken by this strip in the Styles section of the NYTimes Megan at the Mall. It was a wonderful captured moment about peer pressure, teen angst, social cruelty and about saving face. And the great desire not to say, do or wear anything foolish plus the general inability of parents … Read more
Digital kids in a digital world. What’s to worry about? Here is a short interview with John Palfrey author of Born Digital. Hear him in person at PDS on November 3rd. (NYSAIS on Tuesday November 4th.)
William Woodruff died this week. He was a professor of world history best known perhaps for his autobiographical works. He discovered a love of learning as a young adult and found his way to Oxford and a life in academia on three continents. His autobiographical The Road to Nab End was published in 1993 and portrays a long … Read more
Good introduction to Carol Tomlinson’s work on differentiated teaching – the theory that teachers can work to accommodate, support and build on students’ diverse learning needs – in this issue of Teacher magazine. Differentiated instruction is a term that is interpreted in a lot of different ways. How do you define it, and why is … Read more
There’s a slow food movement so why not a slow mind movement? Some years ago Guy Claxton wrote Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less. It made a compelling argument that the mind works best when we trust the unconscious – our “undermind” tortoise mind. The hare brain is the deliberative, … Read more
When you write a blog for the world to see you can never be sure who reads it nor what they think. Keeping site statistics is one thing. Stats tell me how often, and how long and where from but not whether it mattered. Comments are always appreciated and thank-you to everyone who has taken … Read more
There’s an animal sanctuary in Saugerties and today students from the high school were there giving a helping hand. There was a barn to be painted, muck to be raked and animals to care for. Here is a collage of pictures from today’s service learning trip. Thanks Tanya for making the connection, organizing the trip … Read more