Books, Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The World is Not Flat: The New Economics

In a new book, The Venturesome Economy Amar Bhidé challenges  The World is Flat notion proposed by Thomas Friedman in his book of that name.  Bhidé concludes that: a.) the world is not flat and b.) that the people he calls the  “techno-nationalists”— have got it wrong. (At the very least we could agree that the world is spiky) Read…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

What? Wow! And Amazing!

Just a sample of some of the reactions from the high school when they returned to school today. Kenyon House is transformed and restored. Yes – this is a high school.  Flowers included. Take a look at these pictures and come to Founders Day on January 15th for a tour of the real thing. In Gilkeson the new science labs…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

What’s next?

First  the music and the record stores closed.  And then the  books – Posman’s on Broadway, Ivy’s and too many others across Manhattan. And then it was the international news and magazine shop – Global Ink – on the corner of 112th street where it was possible to browse obscure journals, pick up yesterday’s Guardian and newspaper from all over…

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Education, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Action Now

In his talk yesterday, Bruce Judson made reference to the first 100 days of the Roosevelt administration.  As now, there was a deep financial crisis. As now, there was no one clear path to follow.  But doing nothing was not an option.  Bruce reminded us that they tried things, experimenting to see what worked. There’s a local exhibition – close…

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Education, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The financial storm

“Understanding the Economic Crisis in Plain English” – that was the title of the presentation for grades 7-12 today.  In his lively and most informative presentation PDS parent and trustee Bruce Judson explained the origins of the current financial crisis. His talk set out the dominoes of the events that led the way.  You can see the presentation yourself at…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

Fly a plane to the future

Launch your ideas into the future. This is the Million Futures site where you see a blue sky, fluffy clouds and circling paper planes. Each plane contains an answer to one of the questions representing people’s views on the future of education and the skills that will matter. Read a few, launch your own. It is part of a joint…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Learning in a World of Plasma

 A parent sent me a link to this clip from Ulrike Reinhard‘s blog and specifically her story “Intrinsic motivation will play a major role…” Thank you for introducing me to the ideas and work of Chief of Confusion: Richard Seely Brown. Brown is a visiting scholar at USC and the independent co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation.…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

It’s a Different World

Thank you for bringing John Palfrey to the school last night. He was fabulous, and he spoke directly to issues facing my family and our children – PDS parent. It was election eve for the parents and community discussion. And an election day workshop for PDS teachers and colleagues from other New York independent schools. The pictures above are of…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

A Digital Crossroads

Digital kids in a digital world. What’s to worry about? Here is a short interview with John Palfrey author of Born Digital. Hear him in person at PDS on November 3rd. (NYSAIS on Tuesday November 4th.)

Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Perturbation, Paradox and the Welcome Back Picnic: The Virtue of Necessary Change

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…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

Transformation

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…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

If you have a problem … ask everyone

Did you catch this NYTimes article on open-source science and seeking collaborative solutions to new challenges? “If You Have a Problem, Ask Everyone”. The process, according to John Seely Brown, a theorist of information technology and former director of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, reflects “a huge shift in popular culture, from consuming to participating” enabled by the interactivity…

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Books, RattleBag and Rhubarb, WW1

The Book is Dead: Long Live the Book

And they smell good and feel good too! In a fascinating article in the current New York Review of Books the historian Robert Darnton provides some good historical context to the hand-wringing over the instability of texts and the unreliability of information in the age of information overload. Darnton argues that texts have always been unstable and that news and…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

Ground Broken

I came to work after a drilling at the dentist to the joyous sound of jackhammers at work. The posts are in, the fence erected and the Gilkeson enhancement project is underway. The fence surrounds the front of the building where the new science labs will be. The backhoe is already at work. The playground area is also fenced off…

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