I am not a fan of Halloween. There – I’ve said it! What a killjoy, spoil sport, and miserable curmudgeon! Ok – to explain: First – It’s not a part of my childhood tradition. My personal mental furniture of memory for this season trends toward Bonfire Night, November 5th. I do remember once bobbing for apples – a game now out…
The Poughkeepsie Day School difference. for those of you who don’t like movies, you can view the slideshow below instead.
I was listening to Noam Chomsky on ranking and the dangers of standardized testing. This is some of what he had to say: First of all, you don’t have to assess people all the time… People don’t have to be ranked in terms of some artificial standards. The assessment itself is completely artificial. It’s not ranking teachers in accordance with…
Starting with the Welcome Week in September, and right on through to Nicky the Navigator in June, PDS relies on the time and talents of its parent volunteers. The wonderful Parents Association has done so much this year and we are so grateful to Dierdre Sepp for stepping up to the leadership role. Thanks for the fun meetings. I always…
I always enjoy Valerie Strauss’s Answer Sheet blog in the Washington Post. She frequently provides a platform for teacher voices and education issues so often drowned out by the drumbeat of test and standardization mania. She had a great piece last week What a Classroom Engaged in Real Learning Looks Like It’s about the work of Aleta Margolis of the…
An early morning visit to the kindergarten on Friday was a chance for a guided tour of the farm. It’s a magnificent project now complete – a capstone to a year of exploration, research, discovery and creation. And the children are proud to show their work and point out their individual contributions. And a grand farm it is too with…
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 follow the NewsHour so I…