With the main playground currently out of bounds due to construction those swings are still, the tire swing empty, the playhouse deserted and the slide unslid. But all is not lost. There is still recess – a time to go outside, be with friends, meet new people, run around, hula-hoop, play ball, climb mountains, learn to fly, invent new games,…
A decade or so ago the focus was all on girls and how schools were failing to give them the attention and support they need to compete in school and to get a fair shake in the classroom. In recent years the focus has turned to boys and, if the media are to be believed, there is a crisis of…
More humor. This time from Fast Company magazine where Tom Stern wonders whether the over achievement of some adults has resulted in achievement obsession for their kids? From kindergarten to the boardroom considers whether we’re preparing our kids to take over the world far too early in their lives. It’s funny stuff but also provokes serious thinking. What do you…
Did you see this Op-Art piece by Bruce Handy in yesterday’s NYTimes? Hilarious. It’s a spoof of back-to-school registration forms. This one to be sent in to Elm Street school together with your fully inoculated, adequately medicated, lice-free son/daughter. Of course, nothing like this could ever happen at PDS. And I took great personal offense to item 3.a. What’s wrong…
Balance is a wonderful thing. We want it in our lives and in our school curriculum. But sometimes we need just a little disequilibrium to move forward. Take for example the PDS picnic – traditionally held on the first Friday and close to the Gilkeson playground. With that area fenced off for construction we had to come up with another…
The weather held, everyone ate, children played, old friends caught up and new friendships were made. Magnificent garden gate prizes for everyone! The annual back to school welcome picnic was a fun, families and food fiesta. Construction made the usual Gilkeson venue out of bounds so we moved to the back of Kenyon – a change that worked very well.…
Found in the kindergarten classroom yesterday – the hard hats lined up in the block building area ready for the work to begin Construction? No problem. And for kicking back after a tough day of hard work, or maybe taking on another kind of job – some softer alternatives lined up near the reading corner.
Last week I found this huge moth attached to my back screen door. It was several inches across and a beautiful fluorescent green. It’s a luna moth (luna actius) and quite common in deciduous wooded areas of north America. I had never seen one before. And by morning it was gone. Last Monday – in the orientation for new faculty…
I’ve written on this topic before but this is a wonderful blog post from New Zealand by Bruce Hammonds’ Leading and Learning – one of my favorite education sites. Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder Fortunately, here in the mid-Hudson valley and at PDS, we have abundant opportunities to experience the natural world under the skies and in the classroom.
Problem solving is what you do when you don’t know what to do. – Alinda. That’s just one of the things we learned yesterday at the new teachers orientation in Kenyon. Each teacher had five minutes to present a lesson to the group. These were videotaped and the playback classes used as a starting point for the discussion of learning,…
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth learning can be taught. — Oscar Wilde Turning Learning Right Side Up: Putting Education Back on Track – is the title of a book Russell L. Ackoff and Daniel Greenberg Read this extract The Objective of Education Is Learning, Not…
I’ve done a deal of packing and moving and unpacking in the last couple of years. And amid all the pains is the pleasure of the unexpected find. Unearthed this week is this school report from the 1950’s. I remember Miss Kempster well, although I cannot say with fondness my chief memory being that of a generalized fear and the…
What is this life if full of care We have no time to stand and stare – WH Davies “The most important thing you need to do… is to have big chunks of time during the day when all you’re doing is thinking.” (Barack Obama in conversation with British conservative party leader David Cameron.) But how do you do that?…
Who knew that behind the east bookshelf in the back of the Kenyon library there was another lovely window? And that underneath the mustard colored carpet was a parquet floor just waiting to be cleaned and polished? They will certainly be lovely features for the new faculty-student center for the high school.
I caught this Lehrer Newshour segment on cash payments for learning – one of the latest in a series of appalling ideas spawned by testing mania. Surprise: A startling effect- the cash only made things worse. Watch the video and see what you think about this latest example of disincentives for learning. Can you think of a better use for…