Here’s the Flickr album of photos from WinterFest 14 – last day of school before winter break. And a gallery of pics to whet the appetite: And below is the post – Tradition and Change – I wrote in 2009 about the PDS Christmas Festival of 1941. Some things change. Some things don’t From the Poughkeepsie New Yorker (Over 78,000 Read-Round-the-Clock…
Tag: PDS
Some of the Fun of the (Maker)Faire
I’ve been thinking a lot about the MakerFaire and the connections with the “learning by doing” legacy of our school. So many thematic threads and connections with the work of the classroom. This video mix of images captures a few glimpses of MakerFaire and the wide variety of makers and making.
Look who came to MakerFaire 2014
It’s not every day that you get to paint with an internationally renowned artist. But that was just one of the many delights of our Poughkeepsie Mini MakerFaire yesterday. Here is PDS parent Nestor Madalengoita creating a portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt with the help of many hands of all ages. And what a day it was! So many more stories…
Three cheers for EdCamp Hudson Valley
There are lots of reasons to be concerned about the digital revolution and its impact on our lives, the lives of our students and schools. And there’s no shortage of voices raising the alarm. Here’s a small flavorsome slice of a particularly entertaining rant that was in the New Statesman a few years back: Take that digital manacle, the BlackBerry. My first…
Nine Commitments and One New Tool
I’ve recently discovered Haiku Deck – a new way to create slide presentations. It’s an interesting tool for finding images that are in the public domain and matched with the words you enter. You can also upload your own images. The PDS strategic plan has nine learning commitments. These are the nine beliefs about learning that underpin the school’s commitment…
The MakeSTEAM Solution
I’ve been playing with making visuals for the design thinking process. Here’s the latest.
It’s a MakeSTEAM world: Design Thinking on the Move
I’m just back from a fantastic three days at the NYSAIS STEAMCamp. Twitter: #steam13 So much to think about, so much to process and so many plans to make for the new year. Thank you to NYSAIS for hosting the event and to all the leaders, facilitators and participants. And special thanks to all my wonderful PDS colleagues. Design thinking…
Alfie Kohn is coming to Poughkeepsie Day School
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…
Elephants are People Too
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 Masks
Watch The Masks written and directed by PDS student Haixu Liu – All American High School Film Festival Awards winner. Congratulations Haixu.
A Message in Cupcakes
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.
The IBM Selectric Typewriter and Kenyon House: “You must have been drunk!”
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…