Regardless of your group membership, the questions of identity are at the heart of the adolescent experience. ... Each group has its own particular social context … but at the fundamental core of each young person's [identity development] is a desire for affirmation. – Beverly Daniel Tatum -Anderson, Melinda D. The Atlantic. Do Conversations About... Continue Reading →
Field Notes 9/10/17
Edutopia: A New Definition of Rigor Aeon: The Coming-of-Age Con NAIS: Pittsburgh: Where the City Is the Classroom
Field Notes 9/3/17
WQED Mind/Shift: Having a Best Friend in Your Teenage Years Could Benefit You For Life Boston Globe: Private Schools Try Out New Ways to Teach, Grade
Field Notes 8/27/17
Ali Michael and Eleonora Bartoli, NAIS: What White Children Need to Know About Race Eric Hudson, Global Online Academy: 5 Student Projects Sparking Change in their Communities
On Laptops in Classrooms
Originally posted 8/20/17 On laptops in classrooms (latest iterations of a long-term conversation): Brookings: For Better Learning in College Lectures, Lay Down the Laptop and Pick Up a Pen KQED Mind/Shift: Digital Note Taking Strategies that Deepen Student Thinking
American Promise
I was fortunate to watch the full version of American Promise over the December break. Everyone will have the chance to watch it in February on PBS. I am extraordinarily grateful to the parents and to the Dalton School for participating in this multi-year effort. I highly recommend the film. A film that runs a 12 year course... Continue Reading →
“What are you trying to accomplish and how do you know you’re accomplishing it?”
So I have finally caught up with the Fall 2013 edition of Independent School Magazine. I mistakenly judged the magazine based on a particular image, and that image deterred me from picking it up earlier. However, vacation has given me time to reconsider my initial impression. Count me in as a major fan. This issue focuses on... Continue Reading →
Hard Questions on Teaching, Learning, and Innovation
Happy Holidays! Although I cannot turn back the clock and write in the quantity I hoped for this past fall (see my pending "New Year's Resolutions" post!), I can get return to my blog by sharing a few critical posts from the fall that have stuck with me. 1. Can we finally let go of... Continue Reading →
Mandela, Community, and Leadership
Today the world observes the burial of Nelson Mandela in Qunu, his village. As I contemplate the passing of one of the giants of modern world history, I am thinking about reflections from my former colleague Temba Maqubela. In a recent Washington Post op-ed, he wrote: Nelson Mandela would not have led us as he... Continue Reading →
Do we care whether colleges like our grading systems?
The dust has settled from the start of the academic year, and a few educational bloggers are suddenly plunging into excellent, broad questions about the nature and purpose of school. For example: Annie Murphy Paul has opened a discussion about the degree to which the purpose of schooling is to acquire skills to successfully compete... Continue Reading →
21st Century School Journey 