What 60 schools can tell us about teaching 21st century skills. Here’s the TEDx Denver version of the talk Grant Lichtman gave at #naisac13 in Philadelphia. I take my title from an extraordinary compliment that Grant paid Poughkeepsie Day School on his blog where he wrote: “…Poughkeepsie Day School, a school that has preserved the fires of the Progressive Era, un-extinguished, for decades,…
Alfie Kohn is coming on April 25th. Just look at the great header Christina Powers created to herald the news: Go here for more information and to reserve your seat In association with Vassar College and Oakwood Friends School Alfie Kohn will present “The Progressive Schools Our Children Deserve: Helping Students Become Critical Thinkers and Lifelong Learners” on Thursday, April…
What is more discouraging in history than the way in which, again and again, the human spirit is freed from its shackles only to be more tightly bound by its liberators? – Opening sentence of The Technique of Progressive Education A. Gordon Melvin 1932. 1932 – two years before the founding of Poughkeepsie Day School and a time…
We know that empathy – that ability to walk around in another’s shoes – matters. We know that developing empathy is important. But how do you do that? The 4th and 5th grade put on a show last week. Not just any show for this was a play they had written themselves based on their Global Read-Aloud text The One…
The strategic planning process to date has primarily been one of listening and paying attention. When we look at the comments from the parent and faculty surveys and the listening sessions we are struck by the thematic congruity. One thread – woven throughout – can best be summed up as Learning by Doing – a desire for school to be…
Connecting the Dots: Becoming a Knowledge Age Innovator Interesting 2009 short article by Deborah Westphal of Toffler Associates Key points include: Innovation is essential to the long-term success of every organization. But innovation isn’t what it used to be. Discovery doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Innovators have always relied on ideas that have come before or are emerging in parallel. The Knowledge Age provides…
“Messy, raucous, democratic India is growing fast, and now may partner up with the world’s richest democracy—America.” – Fareed Zakaria Newsweek (March 6, 2006) I have never been to India but I have an active imagination and a mental map fueled by literature, film, personal friendships, and an appreciation of Indian food and music. However narrow this perspective these connections…
The world is moving at a tremendous rate; no one knows where. We must prepare our children not for the world of the past, not for our world, but for their world. The world of the future. – John Dewey I met Grant Lichtman when he was on his education journey – a road trip with an itinerary that took him…
Watch The Masks written and directed by PDS student Haixu Liu – All American High School Film Festival Awards winner. Congratulations Haixu.
I like this story of imagination, design, persistence, invention and ingenuity. “We’re going to save the world.” “It’s chicken to be a realist.” “If people say it’s impossible we have to prove them wrong.”
If there’s any doubt that we are living in an age of marvels just read these accounts of what happened when school was closed last Friday: Snow Day and Teaching Is Never Boring and Snow Day . With the forecasters predicting apocalyptic snowfalls, school was closed but the learning did not stop. Online tools available to teachers are astonishing and…
So this is the message I found on my desk when I returned from lunch today. The cupcakes were delicious and I had plenty to give away. Thank you mystery high school person.
Cross-posted from Josie’s Blog Did you know that Poughkeepsie Day School now has a Fab Lab? It’s short for fabrication laboratory – a place where people tinker, design, code, create, re-purpose, mess about, invent, make and play with stuff. It’s right off the Chapman Room. It’s in the pilot and prototype stage but we are already seeing results. Do you…
In Memory of Lance Corporal Frank Herbert Sims. Royal Army Medical Corps who died on 28 January 1919 Age 34 Son of Albert John and Rosa Sims, of Streatham, London; husband of Frances Sims, of 115, Strathyre Avenue, Norbury, London. Father of Edith and Kathleen. With the a brief two hour exception last Friday, I have never worn a poppy. This…
We are at the beginning of a period of focused strategic thinking at school and the Board of Trustees has convened a planning group to lead the process. One of the ways I have been preparing for this has been to compile resources that I think might be helpful in framing the discussion and a shortlist of thought leaders who…