RattleBag and Rhubarb

“All others bring data”

I am old enough to remain in awe of the connectivity of the internet. It reminds me of the excitement I felt as a child – tuning into the world on the family wireless shortwave band – music from North Africa, news from Radio Moscow, and pop, rock and the novelty of radio commercials from Radio Luxembourg. I can still…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The hole in the wall

I learnt to use paint, calculator, see various places through the Internet, solve puzzles, play games, listen interesting sounds and songs. (T.R. Ravi, age 12, Kalludevanahalli kiosk, Karnataka, India) Back at the dawn of time (well, 1993) Seymour Papert* named the computer the “children’s machine”. India’s “hole in the wall” experiment goes a long way toward showing just how easily…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Creativity: Part Two “I’m drawing God”

A child was working diligently on a drawing in art class. The teacher asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.” The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, “They will in a minute.” This is just one of…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Creativity: Part One

Creative Societies need Creative People. If the thinkers and business people like Daniel Pink and Tom Peters have it right then the key attributes for success in the future are the ability to learn and relearn, and the ability to be inventive. Pink even goes so far as to say: “The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

The PDS Podcast

Listen in to the life of the school.   Subscribe to the PDS Podcast series. In this episode: The first All-School Activity School photos Re-cycling in the 3/4’s class Halloween The PDS Podcast

RattleBag and Rhubarb

The All-School Thanksgiving Feast

The kindergarten made decorations and the lower school brought fruit and snacks. The Middle School brought dessert and did the cleaning up. The Upper School brought the sandwich makings, served and led the way. The weather was brisk. Sydereal sang. Alums appeared. And the Pre-K were in the middle of it all. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  

Books, Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Choice

Would you rather have supper in a castle, breakfast in a balloon, or tea on the river? John Burningham We do best, and engage most readily in, that which we experience as freely chosen. Margaret Donalson At PDS we build in options for students wherever we can. Making constructive choices and managing timewell are important skills for learning and life,…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

With the kindergarten – Patterns to Pixies

The kindergarten invited me to their classrooms to see their Pattern Museum. It was wonderful to see their hard work and ingenuity on display. They had found patterns everywhere and created many more of their own. And then – they visited me in my office disguised as fairy-angel-princesses, assorted ghouls, Supermen, a skeleton and a railroad crossing.

RattleBag and Rhubarb

Welcome to My Blog

Blog -a modern portmanteau* word breakfast plus lunch= brunch smoke plus fog = smog web plus log = blog Humpty Dumpty explains it all to Alice: “Well, “slithy” means “lithe and slimy.” “Lithe” is the same as “active.” You see it’s like a portmanteau – there are two meanings packed up into one word… …Well then, ‘mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and…

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