RattleBag and Rhubarb

Design for Learning and Living

Take a look at the plans for the Athletic fields and for the creation of the Middle School Learning Community For those unable to attend the presentation on Thursday – here are the slides and a short clip from the video. Presentation April 12th 2012

MSLC Floor Plan
Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Learning and Design: “The classroom is obsolete”

The classroom is obsolete: it’s time for something new – said Prakash Nair in Education Week. last July. And that’s not just his opinion he says.  “It’s established science.” The classroom is a relic, left over from the Industrial Revolution, which required a large workforce with very basic skills. …As the primary place for student learning, the classroom does not…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

Middle School Imagination Day

Middle School Imagination Day 2012: Everything from Arabic to origami – thirty middle school students sharing their expertise and teaching their peers. For more on Imagination Day check out Shirley’s post from last year: Let the kids rule the school…We just did that.

RattleBag and Rhubarb

Canstruction

Canstruction:  Art, design, architecture, engineering, construction, philanthropy. It’s a great idea and a wonderful project. We made our first foray for Fall Festival Reimagined 2011 with this fireplace. Made out of donated food cans it was built by a group consisting parents, faculty and students. It was dismantled last month and the food donated to the Queens Galley In Kingston.…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

What if…? Part two.

This is second half of  the #Educon inspired What if?  conversations recording the jotted notes of  faculty and staff sharing and learning from last Friday. The first question and our responses are here. The second question was: 2). What if students were able to choose what demonstrations of learning they shared with the public and/or their parents? And the responses: Own choice…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

What if…?

We had seven Poughkeepsie Day School attendees at #Educon 2012 in January and they brought back a wealth of ideas. Thank you  David, David,  Dorothy, Jake, Joe, Kaitlin and Trace. On Friday they shared some of their learning and conversation with the entire faculty and staff.  One focus was eportfolios – what they are and how might they help transform…

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Art, Film, Photography, Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

“Not where the light is”: Schools and Creativity

There’s a really useful article in  Education Week that reviews, summarizes and connects the basic thinking and research out there on what helps promote creativity and helps children incubate the curiosity that leads to innovation, discovery and invention. There’s little here that is new and indeed I have written on all of these topics many times but it is encouraging…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Cookie Cutter Kids: “Send us your winners…”

…and we’ll make winners out of them” There’s a good article in the latest edition of Independent School magazine that challenges some cherished notions of excellence and the hypocrisy of so many claims about diversity, equity and justice. It is starts with a question and a well-aimed slice at the euphemisms of so many school mission statements. What does it…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

A is for…A Poughkeepsie Day School Lexicon

A is for Algebra, Anthropology, Arts and Athletics. We teach them all. People often refer to the STEM curriculum (It’s an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). Our program however, is fully SEARCHED (Science, Engineering, Arts, Recess, Community Service, Humanities, Exercise, Design. No T because technology is everywhere – from paint brushes and  blocks to the ubiquitous laptops.) And given…

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