If you’ve ever been confronted by a dose of TTWWHADI (that’s the way we have always done it) or been reproached with the saying “That’s not the way we do things here,” “That’s not our way”… If you have ever thought that the barbarians are at the door threatening the purity and essence of your … Read more
Last night’s forum was a discussion of digital technology and social media and their impact on learning and education. Thank you parents, students and faculty for joining the discussion. There’s lots more learning and thinking to do and I look forward to the on-going exploration and conversation. We will be actively planning ways to open … Read more
A parent recently sent along this article: Why geeks make better adults than the in-crowd. The article draws it’s lead from Alexandra Robbins book The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth. While there is something of a defensive, passive-aggressive revenge fantasy to the tone, it is undoubtedly true that conforming to the conventional as a way … Read more
Will Richardson was our keynote speaker at Friday’s Embracing Innovation Conference at PDS. Click the pic to see the slides of his presentation. “Now I get it!” Conference participant. “You can’t bubble in the answers to life’s great questions.” PDS senior. Other EIC11 links (more posted soon): Opening Remarks *** TodaysMeet Conference Back Channel … Read more
Technology, Passion and Learning: That was the title of Shirley Rinaldi’s Prezi at Friday’s Embracing Innovation Conference ( Twitter hashtag: #eic11). Shirley teaches 6th grade humanities and she’s worked at PDS since 1993. She writes a blog Talking the Tech Walk with another middle school teacher and you can follow their story there. This year … Read more
Embracing Innovation Conference Presentation Another learning Odyssey about the design development of OPuS (Online Progressive unSchool) posted by Fred Bartels These are the slides to the talk he gave at Embracing Innovation 11 at PDS last Friday. You can follow the learning journey and see some of the influences, sharing, collaboration and thinking along the way. … Read more
Written by Shirley Rinaldi. Cross-posted from Talking the Tech Walk This week I realized that sometimes things just seem to fall into place and are meant to happen. This was the case with a new project that we tried in middle school this week, called Imagination Day. The first thoughts of something new began to … Read more
Inuksuit is inspired by the stone sentinels constructed over the centuries by the Inuit in the windswept expanses of the Arctic. The Inuktitut word translates literally “to act in the capacity of the human”. This work is haunted by the vision of the melting of the polar ice, the rising of the seas, and what … Read more
Dear PDS Families: A few lines (with minor edits) from division in-boxes and my twitter feed: Student: I just wanted to say how I’ve never been so productive or so academically aware on a Snow day. I’ve been working all day today and yesterday making up work for the D day and other classes. I feel home schooled. I … Read more
A snow day is a gift of time for play, independent work and keeping connected in the ways that make sense for the work you want to do. When there’s a chance of a snow day everyone gets excited. And for all kinds of reasons. For many it is the potential for some good play … Read more
School is closed tomorrow – Wednesday – because of the impending storm. In anticipation, middle school director George Swain spoke to the students at lunch about how to make best use of the day. (It included plenty of time for play and being outdoors if that is possible.) And this is from the letter he … Read more
Are we having a snow day tomorrow? Is school going to be closed because of the snow? What are the chances of no school tomorrow? When snow is forecast the day is punctuated with the buzz of questions like these. I love the assumption that, as head of school, I can somehow predict the future … Read more
Sometimes you are awed by the company you keep. Poughkeepsie Day School is honored and inspired by its partnerships with two remarkable local organizations – The Queens Galley and Heart Street , both in Kingston. In Stone Soup and a New Partnership in November 2007 I wrote Becoming a global citizen has to begin close … Read more
I check my Twitter feed first thing. It’s an early morning routine that helps give me a quick scan of the world and of the edusphere in particular. Today, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act into law. Child nutrition and school lunch are hot topics and the PBS NewsHour has taken notice. I … Read more
I like these words about our Fall Festival Reimagined: Three Cheers – from the Poughkeepsie Journal today: To Poughkeepsie Day School’s First Fall Festival Reimagined, an ambitious new festival designed to celebrate the local and the global community. Visitors were given festival passports to mark the places and things they learned about during the day … Read more