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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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

More Failing, Fewer Failures, Greater Success

The November Educational Leadership is devoted to the topic of grading. It includes an article by Alfie Kohn an expanded version of which you can read here: The Case Against Grades. I’ve given grades. For years I worried about how to get a system right, tried to focus students and their parents on the learning not the grade. I’ve spent…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Don’t panic: Experience success and failure … as information.

Probably the only two responses to constant change are: A. Ignore it (shrink back, retrench, resist,  go off the grid, become irrelevant, turn inwards, stay put, get run over, and so on) or B. Keep on keeping on with the learning life. Clearly Option A can take you only so far. But what happens if the modern  mantra of: “Keep…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Occupy Education: The Revolution Starts Now

As always, lots of good stuff in the latest edition of Independent School, the quarterly magazine from NAIS. And those who hold rather outdated notions of independent schools as universal staunch defenders of tradition and the home of the status quo might be surprised by the theme:  Evolution or Revolution: the Pace of Change in Schools. Evolution or revolution? –…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The Race to the Bottom: What can schools do now?

The future is based on impromptu innovation, inspiration and connections – that’s a paraphrase from Seth Godin’s blog today and I urge you to read it: The forever recession (and the coming revolution). And when you have ask this question: If Seth Godin is even close to right: What kind of schools, classrooms, programs – what kind of education-  do…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

All this change ….

For adults like me who work in schools September means being confronted with a world of change.  There are new faces of course, and names to learn. There are new courses, fresh paint on the walls and sometimes new structures and renovations to get used to. And the familiar is unfamiliar too. Children have grown taller, and they return to…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The Happy Factor and the Dismal World of Work

Do Happier Students Work Harder? When PDS high school students took the HSSSE (High School Survey of Student engagement) the results were astonishing. They outperformed their peers in other schools across the spectrum. Our students reported high levels of involvement, feeling safe and supported, deep engagement in their work and feeling  positive about their school and classroom environment. And the…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Blotting your copybook

That tweet from Gary Stager reminded me of this scene: Blotting your copybook used to be more than a figure of speech. It was, for some, a frightening everyday reality of life in school. This scene fromThe 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups, 1959), written and directed by Francois Truffaut, resonates with me. Antoine Doinel’s teacher – “Sourpuss” is a…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Class size and classrooms: What’s best for learners?

What size should classes be? Anyone who has a definitive answer probably has probably bubbled in the answers to all life’s big questions. NAIS president Pat Bassett weighed in with good remarks – including the observation that what makes the real difference in terms of quality education and student outcomes is a combination of great teachers and small schools (where…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Collaboration by difference…Distraction is your friend

I’ve been reading about Cathy Davidson’s Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn (Viking) so I was disappointed to find out I have to wait for the August publication date. This article and this interview have got me interested. (There’s a list of  tips for dealing with distraction…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

From the silo to the beach

In the conversations at this year’s NYSAIS think tank (Twitter hashtag #NYSAIStt11) the language we use has not been the primary focus. It has, however, had a cameo role as we take a second and passing look at the labels and language we use to describe our work. Best practices, professional development, silos – is it time to retire these…

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